Natural Talent
by Alban55
Summary: The ninja world's seedy underside is teeming with many unsavory aspects. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Naruto will get involved with the often disregarded gangs, crime, and politics of the ninja world. With so much exposure to these aspects, will Naruto come out the brave and idealistic ninja that is idolized in Konoha?
1. The DeadLast

Well, you guys voted, and here are the results of that vote. My third story, which all of you reading this will know by now, is officially out with its first Chapter, like those who voted for it wanted

I had a lot of fun designing this one, if I do say so myself. I don't think I've had a story so far which has changed so much, nor do I think I've ever second-guessed myself so much before on what I should do. I thought this one would be the simplest story in my repertoire, but I just _have_ to make things more complex, don't I. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it immensely regardless.

With that being said, let's get on with this.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. Any original characters are mine though.

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><p>Chapter 1: The Dead-Last<p>

A blonde-haired seven year old stared up at his new living quarters, silently happy that these turn of events that worked in his favor. He giggled lightly, and placed his small hands behind his head. Finally, he wouldn't have to go back to that run-down old orphanage.

Why didn't he have to go back, one might ask? Well, it just so turned out that he had received a generous stipend from the Hokage himself, enough for him to buy his own apartment complex. The old man himself had stated that the money had been for that purpose alone, and so had gone with the boy to purchase his very own apartment.

Uzumaki Naruto was known around the village as a sort of pariah, one that gets hate heaped onto him by the other villagers. The following wasn't any different at the orphanage.

So as far as he was concerned, this building was _perfect_. He'd finally be able to live away from other kids who were encouraged to dislike him, and the strict mistress of the orphanage, who seemed to find fault with absolutely everything he did.

Sure, the building was a little run-down in places, and he had no doubt his apartment would be the same, but it wasn't horrible. He could at least live in it with relative comfort.

He turned to look up at his personal apartment, it being on the top floor, and even having a small balcony that he could go out on. He turned his eyes back to ground-level, as he heard the fall of few footsteps coming down the stairs that lead to the upper floors of the apartment complex.

He locked eyes with a fairly young couple, seeing their smiling faces turn to quick surprise before landing on silent revulsion. The boy winced and turned away, as the couple who had locked eyes with him walked in the other direction.

A dead leaf fell off the old oak tree from behind where he was standing, and he crunched the leaf under his sandal as he walked towards his new home. Oddly enough, the leaf seemed to bear an uncanny resemblance to the symbol of the village, as much as it could anyway.

He pulled a key out of his pocket as he neared the top floor, gritting his teeth in anxiety. He had a feeling that he knew something bad was going to happen once he inserted it into the lock. Like it was just going to be some sick joke on his behalf.

He turned the key into the lock, fear entering his gut as the tumblers activated and the door opened. He pushed it open cautiously, noting the heavy layer of dust on the floors and windowsills. He took a step forward, the floorboards creaking slightly as he did. As he neared the kitchen and set his meager belongings on the table, he managed to finally relax.

It wasn't much, just a few sets of clothes, a calendar, and a book or two. The Sandaime had provided for the minimal bits of furniture. A bed, a table, and a refrigerator was all he had to his name right now other than the things from the orphanage. But, he supposed that would improve with time as he got started at the ninja academy.

He pulled the calendar from his suitcase, turning it to the proper month, and focused in on the circled date. It was exactly a week from the current date, and it marked his first day of instruction at the academy. He had already gone through the initiation a few weeks ago, but he wasn't sure that exactly went well. He supposed he was just eager to get down to business, and perhaps a little too eager. He had earned himself the ire of his future peers and sensei, and classes hadn't even started yet. Not to mention, some of the kids seemed to hate him for no apparent reason, even before he had started goofing off.

But, he supposed that was no different than the way the rest of the village treated him.

The boy looked up around at the walls, noting the lack of decoration besides the plain white paint and the wooden finish near the bottom. There were no pictures or posters hung up on them, and that was the way they were going to be left. After all, it wasn't like there was anything worthwhile he could use to mount on the wall. No pictures of family or anything like that.

He walked into the other room and placed his calendar on the nightshade, sitting on the bed as he stared at the ceiling. The academy would be a fresh start, that was for sure. One step closer to getting his name out there. One step closer to being recognized for who he was, and not for whatever reason that the villagers hated him for.

A combination of Naruto's anxiety, the feel of his new bed, and the creaks of the admittedly creepy apartment kept Naruto up for most of the night, and by the next morning the boy's spirit had diminished quite a bit. He looked more haggard than usual, and he didn't even notice as he spilled his glass of milk upon his new wooden floor.

In fact, Naruto hadn't even noticed the time he had woken up from his restless slumber. He turned his eyes over to the clock upon the wall, and all sleepiness was roused from him when he realized he was already an hour late to his first class.

"Crap!" he swore, downing the rest of his cereal in a flash, before placing the bowl in the sink. He grabbed his keys off of the table, along with his papers which he tucked underneath his arm.

He bolted out the door, paying no mind to the lady who looked at him severely, and hopped down the stairs into the main square of the village, desperately searching for the right way to the academy.

After the clear destination was in his mind, he rushed down the proper street, and even at his speed he wasn't immune to the glares the passing bystanders sent in his direction.

He shook off the negative energy and continued on, silently wishing he at least had a watch so he could tell how late he was going to be. However, Naruto had no such luxury, and by the time he reached the academy grounds, he was tired, dirty, sweaty, and he didn't know how late he actually was.

He looked down at his crumpled schedule, and luckily for him it was Room 2A, one of the closest rooms to the entrance to the academy. He bounded into the hallway, and swung the second door on the left open. He froze when the entire room turned around to stare at him, all of them putting him on the spot.

The sensei, a tanned Chuunin with a pineapple hairstyle stared at him with an annoyed look, which mirrored that of several students in the class, including that of one duck-haired boy near the front of the class.

"Ehehehe... uh, sorry?" he said tentatively, rubbing the back of his head, while the kids of the class glared at him further. The sensei he noticed now had a vein popping out of his forehead, and Naruto instinctively backed away, almost out the door.

"Is this going to be a normal habit?" the sensei asked through gritted teeth, barely containing his anger. "Coming into class an hour-and-a-half late. I expected better for the first day of class. Right... Naruto?"

"But, but Iruka-sensei..." Naruto attempted to protest, but he was cut off by the Chuunin.

"Just take your seat, Naruto..." he said curtly, before he had an idea. He turned to the rest of the class, addressing each and every one of them. "Because of Naruto's little display on what it means to be punctual, I've decided to extend his punishment. That means that everyone will be required to do an extra two pages of writing from our lecture on the properties of Genjutsu for homework. Maybe that will make him learn to show up on time from now on," he finished, before turning back to the blackboard.

Naruto, who had taken his seat laid his head down upon it, if only to shield himself from the many, many glares that were being sent his way. It really wasn't the best first day at the academy.

The boy zoned out the rest of Iruka's lecture on ninja weapons, trying to think himself a way where he would be better received by his classmates and senseis. He only vaguely heard Iruka dismiss them all, and he was lucky enough that he didn't get a second lecture from him afterwards. However, as Naruto was walking out of the row of desks towards the aisle, he failed to notice the small leg sticking out in front of him.

Naruto yelped as his foot collided with it and he lost his balance, falling face first into one of the stairs. He drew himself to his feet, clutching his scuffed forehead, which he noticed with displeasure was bleeding slightly. A din of laughter broke the silence, with those who were still hanging around stopped to point and laugh at the boy.

"Man, that was awesome, Kiba!" guffawed one of the boys in the class, who walked up to high-five a smirking Inuzuka Kiba. Naruto looked up to see the one who tripped him, noticing the brown-haired boy with red triangles on his cheeks and a small puppy on the top of his head.

Naruto wiped his forehead, before turning to glare at the boy, baring his teeth. Kiba in return starting baring his own at Naruto, with Akamaru joining in to growl at the boy.

"What was that for, bastard!" Naruto yelled. Kiba stopped glaring at Naruto in exchange for laughing some more at him.

"What, I'm just punishing you for getting the rest of us to do more homework. And, it's really your fault for falling for such an obvious trap. Didn't you hear Iruka-sensei tell about how ninjas need to "look underneath the underneath". But, it seems you can't even look underneath your own foot!" the dog user laughed some more, prompting Naruto to blush lightly.

"Don't underestimate me, asshole. I can be a great ninja. Maybe I'll even become Hokage someday!" he proclaimed, and the class broke down in laughter even more.

"You, a Hokage!? Don't you think that title needs someone better than you to carry it. I saw how Iruka-sensei picked on you for questions today. You were stumped! In fact, some of the answers were so stupid that I had to force back my laughter! I can tell already that you're just going to be a failure. Failure, Failure!" he shouted.

Naruto hid his face as the students who remained started chanting things like "failure" and "no-ninja". Naruto grimaced, resisting the urge to shout at them all, to yell about how he would beat them all.

But, the seven-year old did no such thing. He turned his back on the jeering kids, and ran out of the door in as big of a hurry as he possibly could.

His classmates' laughter followed him all throughout the rest of the day.

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><p>As the months went by, Naruto's situation at the academy didn't much improve. He was struggling in his studies, and even he could tell that when he received his first test back and there was a big, red failing grade stamped on top of it.<p>

There was also the situation with the people around him. None of the senseis besides Iruka even considered helping him improve his grades and ninja skills, and his peers seemed to take on the attitudes of their parents. They hated him, plain and simple, and he hadn't made a single friend since his entrance into the academy. His one salvation in Sasuke disappeared when the normally smiling boy started to become more aloof and reserved, glaring at him whenever he could, like he was some kind of plague on the world.

It was getting close to the end of the semester though, and he would have some relative relief in the time he had off, where he would only have to deal with the hatred of the rest of the village. He smiled on the inside and closed his eyes, which lead to Iruka throwing a piece of chalk at him. It bounced off his forehead, earning an "ow" from Naruto and some snickers from the rest of the class.

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Iruka barked at the boy, earning a scowl from Naruto. He went back to zoning out, but was stopped dead when Iruka asked him a question.

"Naruto, out of all the Genjutsu that affect the five senses, which type of them are the most dangerous?" he asked, to which Naruto looked around the room like there was another Naruto.

"Uh, uh... you know what, Iruka-sensei, why don't you ask Sasuke for the answer to that question! After all, a great future ninja like me doesn't need to answer that question, but someone like Sasuke definitely does!" he exclaimed.

God, that was pathetic. Was that really the best he could come up with? Not to mention, Sasuke was pissed at him again judging by the glare he was sending his way. Oh, and the fangirls. Not the fangirls.

Iruka sighed.

"Naruto, Sasuke is the top of everything in his class. You on the other hand are the dead last. If you want to be a ninja, you will have to pay attention to my lectures."

"Just answer the question, dobe... " muttered Sasuke, still glaring at Naruto.

"What did you say, asshole..." roared Naruto, getting up in Sasuke's face. Sasuke himself intensified his glare to the point where you could feel the tension.

"Did I stutter, dobe?"

"Naruto! Get away from Sasuke-kun, now!" screeched Sakura, much to the agreement of all of Sasuke's fanclub. Naruto looked upon all the angry girls and frowned lightly, turning away from Sasuke.

"I can so take him..." he muttered to himself. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke heard that.

"Oh really now. You talk big for a dobe, but I think I'll take you up on that offer. 3 o'clock this afternoon, on the academy training ground, you and me are gonna fight. And none of this sparring crap, we're going to pull out all the stops," Sasuke replied, challenging Naruto.

"You're on, bastard!" Naruto yelled back, accepting the challenge. The boys in the class cheered at the prospect of a fight, while the girls squealed at seeing their Sasuke-kun in action.

"Kick his butt, Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh man, a real fight!"

"That's enough!" shouted Iruka over the enthusiastic voices. "Naruto, Sasuke, I understand that you two may have your differences, but I will not allow any unauthorized fighting on this campus. Do I make myself clear?" he said, and both Naruto and Sasuke turned their attention back towards him.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei..." they both moaned monotonously. Naruto went back towards his seat and glared at Sasuke again while Iruka resumed his lecture. Despite their teacher's insistence to the following, they both had a look plastered on their face that screamed "This isn't over".

Well, it turned out that their teacher's interference was useless, as both boys ignored his warning and met anyway at the designated sight. The fight had gathered a lot of steam in the few hours it sat, and it attracted many other students to come and watch the fight.

"I'm gonna straight up murder you..." boasted Naruto, when they had arrived at the training ground. Naruto took his place opposite Sasuke, and the circle of students surrounded them at about a twenty to thirty feet radius. Plenty of space to do what they wanted.

Naruto already had his plan set up in his head. Neither one of them should've known any jutsu yet, but Naruto prided himself on his unpredictability and deception. He would distract him with what looked like a kick, and then beat up Sasuke with a one-two punch. It was a perfect plan in Naruto's mind, and one that couldn't possibly fail.

They both lacked weapons, and they hadn't borrowed any from the academy, so this fight would probably end without either one of them being seriously injured. But still, Naruto was on his guard, ready for anything to happen. He lowered himself into the basic academy Taijutsu stance, one that Iruka had taught, while Sasuke entered his own different one, perhaps a trademark of the Uchiha Clan.

The kids around him were beginning to chant, and Naruto felt the sound begin to dim. The world seemed to slow to a halt as he took off towards Sasuke, who just seemed to stand there waiting to take the hit. He ran as fast as he could towards the other boy, and when he got there he extended his leg in preparation for the fake-out kick.

He didn't even know what had hit him.

When Naruto had reached over there, Sasuke threw one punch, _one punch_, which nailed Naruto right in the jaw. The hit boy coughed up slightly before he was sent flying back from where he came, clearly not able to fight anymore.

"_He was too quick for me. No matter what I did, his speed and technique are too great..._" he thought to himself, as he lay face down in the dirt. He didn't bother getting up and trying to fight him again.

A bunch of raucous laughter broke out in the clearing, as the spectators of the fight cheered Sasuke, who was rubbing his slightly scuffed knuckles, while booing for the downed Naruto.

"Man, how lame!"

"He went down in one hit!"

"He was no match for Sasuke-kun in the first place!"

"It was to be expected, Naruto will never be a skilled shinobi!"

Naruto pulled himself to a sitting position, staring over at Sasuke who was in turn was staring down smugly at him. That look in his eyes was just too superior, too arrogant for Naruto to take.

"What's wrong? Is that all you go, idiot?" he jeered, as the laughter of the crowd continued to pick up. Naruto grit his teeth before biting his lower lip. He looked like he wanted to get up and fight again, but that would only worsen his situation, make him seem even more pitiful than he already was.

He rose to his feet, ignoring Sasuke before turning and walking in the opposite direction. Despite all their laughter, the crowd gave him a wide berth as he left it, though their laughter got even louder.

Sasuke only stared and watched him go, the smug smirk never leaving his face.

"Stupid Sasuke, stupid academy, stupid classmates, stupid Kiba. They all should just go to hell..." he said, as he collapsed on his bed. Honestly, this had been the worst day he had had in a while. Public humiliation was one of the few things he was thankful that the village didn't subject him to, but now he could say that he could add that experience to the list.

"Where do they get off treating me like that. All of them. Where do they..." he trailed off, before punched his mattress and forcing his face into his pillow. He clutched the fabric tightly.

"Is that what happens? If someone's struggling to be a ninja, you ridicule them instead of help them. No one ever helps me, ever. Only Iruka-sensei does, and he can only do so much. Is it some sort of crime to be not as talented as everyone else?" he groaned into his pillow.

"I wish I had friends..." he said, turning up from his pillow and staring at the few kunais he had bought the other day. A few scrolls were sitting next to them.

Naruto weakly got up from the bed, and walked over to the table. He opened one of the scrolls, and noticed the kanji for "guts" was written all on it in bold. Did he write that? Maybe, he didn't really remember.

"Hmm, I guess nothing good is going to come from me just sitting at home and moaning. If I want something to happen, I'm going to have to work for it..." he pocketed the scroll, before taking the kunai and stuffing them inside his new pouch. He had a couple shuriken in the drawer as well, maybe he should take those as well.

"I'm going to have to start training myself. If no one else in this village is going to help me, then all I have to do is help myself. I've never really thought I would self-teach myself though," he said, grabbing his keys and walking out his front door.

For the next several days, Naruto struggled to find the perfect training spot for him to practice his techniques. All of the training grounds were usually occupied, and he wanted a place where he could train in peace. He finally found one in an area around two miles outside of Konoha, and to him it was heaven.

It was a large clearing, oval shaped and a couple hundred feet in diameter. A trickling stream ran through the clearing, and there were a few high stumps scattered around that he could for weapon practice or as training dummies. The area was purely peaceful, surrounded by thick forestry, and the sounds of nature such as chirping birds or rustling grass could be heard. It was very calming to the frazzled boy. It was his own little slice of paradise, a place where he could get away from all of his troubles.

As the weeks went on, Naruto spent more and more time at his own little training spot, either training or just to get away from the village for a while so he could calm his mind.

"In many ways, this place is better than the village..." he muttered to himself one day. He was sitting on a stump near the stream, watching the small fish jump out of the water. He had already done his training for the day, and now he was simply relaxing and letting his worries escape him. His pack of ninja gear lay at his feet, almost forgotten.

It was at this point that Naruto heard it. A strange, humming noise that seemed to be coming from just outside of the clearing. It was very melodious and beautiful, and whoever was making the song sounded very feminine. Naruto simply sat there for a little while, closed his eyes and listened to the tune, before he got to his feet and decided to figure out just who was out there.

With a grunt, he jumped off his stump, and began walking towards where he heard the music.

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><p>Woo! The first Chapter of my third story is now officially complete. That means that the hardest part is out of the way. I thought it was a very interesting start to the story, so please review and tell me what you think.<p>

That's all for now everyone, I'll see you all later.

Sincerely,

**_Alban55_**


	2. Lady of the Fire Country

**Yira**: It's just an ordinary scroll, anyone training to be a ninja has them. As for the Sandaime, he has an entire village to run, and although he cares about him, Naruto doesn't seem like the type to go running to the Sandaime with his troubles.

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><p>Chapter 2: Lady of the Fire Country<p>

The voice seemed to coming from somewhere outside of the clearing, where the open field gave way to become dense forest that would be far easier to get lost in. Naruto contemplated the move for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of his decision.

He pulled out a practice kunai from his pouch, wanting to at least appear threatening in case of a trap or an enemy. As he entered the dense underbrush of the forest, he tensed in preparation for anything.

The Kyuubi vessel hid slightly behind the nearest tree to him, watching as the river wormed its way throughout this section of the forest. That appeared to be the source of the noise, but he didn't want to be rash and just jump straight into a trap.

He realized just how melodious the sound truly was; it seemed to put all of his troubles at ease, and he felt himself relax more and more to the point where he almost dropped his guard.

"_No, I can't let my guard down! I have to be prepared for anything!_" Naruto thought to himself. Regardless, he couldn't deny that this person had a wonderful singing voice. Who would be all the way out here in the boonies, though? As far as he could tell, there wasn't anyone around for miles.

He clutched the kunai in his hand tighter, before he ventured a peek around the circumference of the tree. He panned his eyes around the area before coming to rest on a small figure near the river's bank.

It was a small girl, around his age or possibly even a little younger, who was dipping her feet into the water while singing her gentle melody. Looking closer, he saw that she had shoulder length brown hair which hung loosely, and a slightly chubby face befitting her age. She was dressed in a bright yellow sundress that was sized to her small form, and she had a few little scrapes over her body. The second thing Naruto noticed were the few ninja weapons that were beside her. Perhaps a more astute individual would wonder why she was training in such attire, but that thought never occurred to Naruto.

Anyway, the little girl didn't exactly seem experienced either, as she never recognized his presence even after he had stepped out of his hiding place and into plain view. Whatever the case, the blond boy didn't deem her a threat in the slightest.

He walked forwards a few steps, before snapping a twig and drawing attention to his presence. The girl's head whipped around and she locked eyes with him, her green orbs showing initial fear towards the new arrival.

Naruto smiled awkwardly at the surprised girl, putting his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. The girl didn't seem to calm down from that in the slightest, and she rose from her sitting position to stare at him accusingly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? This is private land!" she shouted accusingly. Naruto winced as she pointed a finger at him dramatically, her courage seemingly restored by the reassurance that he was at fault here. He didn't know what she was talking about though; there were no houses in plain sight, so this couldn't be anyone's property.

"Private land? What are you talking about? We're miles away from any kind of house, so how can this area be private?" Naruto asked, throwing the argument right back in her face. The girl seemed to take this as a personal insult.

"What are you saying, you idiot? Don't you know that if _I'm_ around, then it automatically means that it's _my _property..." the girl said haughtily. Naruto winced at the tone; what kind of logic was that? Was this girl a member of a noble clan or something? Was that why she was so arrogant? Though, usually those with clans were talented or had some indication that they belonged to one. This girl had no such thing, and thus looked like a plain old civilian girl, who was out training or something.

"Follow me," she said, gesturing to him. He didn't budge, just staring at the other child for longer than he should have. The girl seemed to take note of that, and her eyes darkened and her face became shadowed.

"_I said..._ **_follow._ _me_.**" she whispered, in the legendary female voice that seemed to exist to promise pain to any male foolish enough to go against it. The boy felt a small bead of sweat run down his face, and nodded obediently before following the girl down the river. They walked in tense silence for about five minutes, before both kids exited out of the forest onto a path, which seemed to be an offshoot of the main path leading out of the village. The boy followed the girl down the path about two-hundred feet, until they came to rest at a few small signs laid out across the path as warnings.

"Look at this! You were trespassing in my home!" the girl said almost triumphantly, pointing to one of the signs. Naruto stared at the sign unamused, he wasn't the type of kid to listen to signs or anything like that. And since when did the girl get all chummy with a suspicious trespasser? By all means, she should've run away the instant she spotted him.

"Property... of... No..." Naruto struggled with the words a little bit, though he seemed to get the gist that this entire area was property of someone. The girl looked at him smugly.

"That's right. Property of the **_daimyo. _ **NO TRESPASSING ALLOWED!" she said, pointing at Naruto again. Naruto finally seemed to realize that he was in deep shit when he heard the word "daimyo" come out of the girl's mouth, and he backed away slowly from the girl before she tried something.

"It seems you've finally realized your rudeness. This is the fire daimyo's second house, and our private estate far away from politics and people. And any land three miles around it is our property. No visitors allowed. As his granddaughter, it's my property as well, and I don't appreciate random kids trespassing on my property. So get out before I call the guards!" she said huffily.

What were the chances that he would meet the daimyo's granddaughter so far away from civilization? And he would do something that insulted or threatened her terribly? Apparently for Naruto, those chances were pretty good.

Naruto seemed to notice something off with this statement. One, they were alone here. Two, they were at the very edge of the property, far away from the main house the girl seemed to be talking about.

"What guards?" he asked dumbly, his rigid body relaxing. The girl seemed to notice the fatal error in her judgement; there were no guards around for miles. She was alone here, and she couldn't force the boy out, unless she was stronger than he was.

"W-Well, just get out anyway. You're interrupting my training!" she said, blushing lightly in embarrassment for her mistake. The entire incident had set her nerves on edge, and she didn't feel like talking anymore.

"Training?" Naruto asked her. The girl almost let loose a nasty swear word, it couldn't get out that she of all people was doing manual labor for whatever reason. The precious princess of the Hi no Kuni had to be a prim and proper lady in every single way. She couldn't be caught almost three miles from their house, scuffed and bleeding while training to become a ninja. The guards had probably been searching for her for a couple hours, and they would eventually find her.

"W-Well, that's none of your business, now is it?" she said, shooing the boy away with her hand. Naruto looked at her bewildered; it seemed that she wasn't going to take her eyes off him until he left.

"Now, get!" she shouted, and that was the last straw for Naruto. He couldn't handle being in the presence of this pushy, spoiled girl anymore. He turned around from her and walked as far away from the property. When she disappeared back into the forest, he turned around and glimpsed back from where he came.

It was only when he got home that day did he realized he lost the ability to go to the place where he enjoyed being more than Konoha. If that was the property of the Fire Daimyo, then there was no way he would be able to go back there without getting caught. And that means, he would have to find a new training ground, which was a shame because that one was perfect for him.

* * *

><p>A few months later, it was safe to say that the incident with the daimyo's granddaughter had effectively faded from Naruto's mind. He couldn't even remember what she looked like, until he saw he walking around town unsupervised one day.<p>

The memory came back to him all at once, and he even ignored the glares of the villagers for a split-second to focus on who was standing in front of him. The girl had a much greater disposition that he had seen before, most likely because there wasn't anyone trespassing on her land. Instead, she seemed eager this time, darting through the various stores and buildings like a hyped-up puppy.

"Leave her. No good will come from getting involved with a girl like that. The daimyo will probably have me executed if I so much as breathe on her," Naruto said to himself, keeping to the main road while he went about his errands.

Unfortunately for Naruto, fate would not leave him alone that day. After accidentally bumping into a few other people, the girl just happened to run into someone in her own weight class, sending both the kids sprawling across the road.

"I'm so sorry! I should have watched where I was-" she cut herself short just as she realized who she was talking to. The downed blonde-haired boy seemed familiar at first, but it was a few seconds before the memories came back in full.

"You! You're the trespasser!" she said accusingly, pointing her finger dramatically at Naruto. Naruto winced, the villagers were giving him odd stares now as well, and it wouldn't do for them to believe that he was some kind of criminal on top of everything.

"What are you doing here, you lying-" Naruto placed his hand over her mouth, muffling her speech and preventing the public opinion of him from falling any lower. The girl glared at him, her muffled voice getting angrier and angrier.

"Look, don't say another word and I'll buy you some ramen, okay..." The girl was unimpressed with what the boy thought was a clever bribe, and with a nasty food that she outright despised as well.

"How dare you bribe me with such a nasty food, you rude thing!" she whispered, seemingly having taken Naruto's words to heart. The boy in question rolled his eyes at her tone. Apparently, she had a lot of upper-class snob that she needed to work out.

"_Well, you can tell she's high-class, alright..._" he thought to himself. It was bizarre, she could be haughty one moment and apologetic the next. Were all girls this temperamental?

"Look, can't we just talk about this somewhere else, before the villager's glares gets worse," he said, trying to appeal to the girl. The girl again looked unimpressed, but she didn't immediately shoot down the idea.

"...Fine," she agreed finally, having calmed down enough to not shout her current opinion of Naruto to the entire village. She lead Naruto over to a small bench away from the main road, where they could sit without anyone listening in on their conversation.

Naruto sat down beside her, ignoring the furtive glances he got from a few villagers here and there. These weren't lost on the girl, and she seemed to look at him questioningly, like she was wondering what the village's problem was with him.

"Okay, I'll start with a simple question, then. What were you doing on my property that day?" the girl questioned. The boy wondered whether or not he was being accused again.

"Nothing. I just wanted a place to get away from the village for a while, where I could train by myself. I had no idea I was trespassing on the daimyo's property or anything..." Naruto said, trying to alleviate her concerns.

The girl looked at her feet, making sure she didn't make eye contact with Naruto. The blonde haired boy mused that she was possibly thinking that this whole thing was a little petty.

"Train? You're a ninja?" she asked.

Naruto looked at her like she was stupid.

"Hell no! I'm still in the academy right now. It's just... never mind," he took back what he was going to say; something like that would only lead to more questions from the daimyo's granddaughter.

"It's just what?" she asked, the brown-haired girl finally making eye contact with Naruto.

"_Hmm, green eyes,_" he thought, before looking down before he could get caught staring. A woman glared at him from across the street, a much more intense glare than what he was used to, and that was saying something. He winced, figuring that the girl had something to do with it.

"Uh, it'd just... when I DO become a ninja, I'm gonna be the best Hokage ever!" he said, proclaiming his dream to the girl. She didn't react at all, and started clapped her feet together as turned away.

"Oh, really?" she said, the neutral tone catching Naruto off guard. Usually, when he shouted his dream passionately like that, he got laughed at. The detached disinterest made it seem like she was mocking him, but she never outright shot down his aspirations.

They sat in silence for a few more seconds, the only sounds being the voices of the villagers and the clapping of the girl's sandals against each other.

"In a way, that's almost like the exact opposite of my dream," she blurted out suddenly. Naruto looked at her strangely, before the girl blushed lightly after being caught in her mistake.

"Well, in a way, you're a low-class commoner trying to become something great. And, I'm something great trying to become a low-class commoner. That's how it goes..." she said, not even aware that she was coming off as arrogant.

"_Low class? Something great? How cocky and arrogant is this girl?_" Naruto thought.

"Maybe it's strange that the granddaughter of the daimyo wants to have a job as dangerous and common as a ninja, but I can't help myself. The lifestyle just calls to me, and I can't help but answer it, you know what I'm saying? Of course, no one in my family will allow me to take such a dangerous job, so I have to train in secret and hopefully wait for the day when I can run away from home and answer my true calling..." she said dreamily.

"Have you considered that maybe your family won't allow you to do anything because you don't have any talent? _Well shit..._" asked Naruto bluntly, before he even realized what he just said. He shoved his fist into his mouth, but it was too late. The damage had been done, and there was no taking it back now.

The girl gaped at him, and Naruto saw her pop a vein in her forehead. He was no longer scared of the guards she could possibly call to execute him, he now focused his fear fully on the girl.

Her fists were up, and she seemed to want nothing more than to whale on the poor boy. Calling her guards to punish him didn't even enter her mind. Naruto didn't even realize what had happened until he was on the ground, clutching a large bump that was on his head. The girl looked deeply upset.

"That's not it. That's not it at all. My family treats me like I'm some delicate little flower that always needs to be cared for and protected. I hate that more than anything in the world. By being a ninja, I can show them, show the entire world that I can be strong, be something more than just the delicate little daimyo's granddaughter," she explained.

"So, that's why you were training in secret, so far away from your house..." Naruto pointed out. The girl nodded. Naruto was beginning to see an opportunity here, and he just might take it.

"Do you have anyone to teach you?" he asked. The girl shook her head.

"No, the guards won't even talk to me because they're under direct orders not to let me anywhere near anything related to ninja. The best thing I can do is teach myself, but I have no idea where to get started," she admitted.

"Then, that's something else we have in common," Naruto replied, climbing back up to take his seat on the bench. The girl looked at him quizzically, before Naruto flashed her a toothy grin, forgetting about the previous grievances they had against each other.

"What do you mean? Aren't you enrolled in the ninja academy here?"

Naruto winced, realizing that he was about to reveal something pretty personal to this girl that he just met.

"Well, I do go to the ninja academy, but it isn't a very fun place for me. Did you know that almost everyone in this village hates my guts?" he said, more to himself than the girl beside him.

The girl looked at him bizarrely, her eyes shining slightly.

"What?" she asked, seemingly not comprehending his implied meaning. Naruto nodded, his eyes downcast, before he pointed a finger out into the main road of the village, adjacent to where they were. The villagers that weren't ignoring him were glaring. The girl seemed to realize this as well.

"I don't understand..." she said, her voice twinging with slight concern.

"Neither do I, but that has occurred since as long as I can remember. They hate me for no good reason. I don't understand, I haven't done anything wrong, so why do they hate me so much? It's not fair... I haven't done anything to deserve this, but it happens anyway." he said, his voice surprisingly quiet. The girl next to him looked awkward, considering Naruto was pretty much telling her his entire life story. She gingerly placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and noticed that his respiration was quicker than before.

"Anyway, the academy instructors have this attitude towards me, too. They don't help me when I'm not getting something, they give me bad grades on assignments that don't deserve it, talk down to me, make fun of me, and do many other things. The other kids won't be my friend or do anything to help me, 'cuz their parent's attitudes are passed on to them. I have next to no chance of learning to be a ninja through others, so I'm stuck teaching myself. And, it's not like I'm actually getting much better."

The girl's lip quivered, she didn't have any friends either. That was, not counting the guards or anything.

"Are you suggesting... what I think you're suggesting?" she asked tentatively.

"Well, I don't think either of us will get very far ninja-wise unless we team up ninja-wise. This may be wrong, but I think having a strong partner will help us with our training. And, you want to be a ninja, yet you haven't even learned anything from the academy, haven't you?" Naruto's explanation made a little too much sense for the girl.

"_I've wasted too much time here. The guards will probably come shouting for me any moment now..._"

The girl got up, brushing herself off. She looked around frantically, almost as if she were looking for something.

"Fine! If you're serious about this, then meet me at the same spot where we first met in three days at 8 o'clock. We'll train together and see if what you're saying about this really is true-" Her attention was soon drawn to a gaudily dressed ninja standing about fifty feet away. He was dressed in a light red kimino that had the symbol for the Hi no Kuni on it, and instead of a hitai-ate, he wore a strange headdress thing that seemed to cover his entire face save his eyes.

"Fumiko-sama!" the guard cried out, spotting the girl at a visible distance. Fumiko heard the guard in question, and she turned and bolted in the opposite direction, at a speed a daimyo's granddaughter had no business running at.

"I'll see you there, then..." she called back at him. Naruto blinked.

"She didn't even ask me my name..."

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><p>Here we are, another chapter done.<p>

This one was tough to write at first, but I finally got it. I don't have much experience writing these types of chapters, but I think it turned out alright, eh? Of course, please review and tell me what you think about in your own words. I was thinking of lengthing this chapter a little bit, but the next scene is a little different, so I think it's best to end this on a similar page.

Anyway, that's all for now, so seeya next time.

_**Alban55**_


	3. Low Class Konoha Society

This is the story I have the least drive to do right now, so it's sort on the backburner compared to the other three. I apologize for the late update.

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><p>Chapter 3: Low-Class Konoha Society<p>

Naruto thought about the high-class girl he had met for the second time that day. She definitely had the snooty attitude that was associated with those types of people, but why would she want to associate with him in the first place? When it came down to it, they were from two separate worlds, and if anything she should've been indoctrinated to look down on people like him. _Especially_ on people on like him.

He watched her receding back; she walked with a great air of pride befitting her status, even when she was bouncing from stand to stand. It was a bizarre sight.

He looked in the other direction, to the way his apartment was. The street he was currently on was Main Street, and his apartment complex was located at the intersection of Main Street and Moku Avenue. To be more general, his apartment complex pretty much marked the entrance to the seedier part of Konoha. Every villager knew the dangers that Moku Avenue held, as it was a general red-light district. Bars, whore houses, and thugs could be found all over the area, and the civilians that lived there were as street-smart as could be.

He had actually just recently moved from Moku Avenue. Who in their right mind put the village orphanage in the worst part of town?

Apparently Konoha.

But, it's not like the clan heads care about anyone other than themselves, and the Hokage couldn't make this right all by himself.

He gulped, he had some business to take care of there when he had the chance. He wasn't looking forward to going back to that place, especially since _they _were there.

He arrived back in his apartment a little while later, dropping his wallet and keys on his only table. He walked over to the window that faced Moku Avenue, noticing how it almost immediately got more rundown, almost like a slum. A few children could be seen hanging out several doors away, in the alley between two houses. They looked dirty.

He gulped, before he sat down at the table. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, which meant that Moku Street would begin to become more active as the shroud of night covered it. He would have to go then.

He stared out the window for at least a couple hours, waiting for the village to become pitch-black and for most of the street lights to go off. It was around nine o'clock when he left his apartment and descended into the street.

No one was out on the street at this time of night, so he didn't have to worry about any glares or some of the more bold villagers. Still, the red-light district loomed in front of him like an oppressive void, with the occasional flickering of a street light there to break the darkness.

His pouch of practice kunai were at his hip, just in case something happened in this neck of the woods. And most likely, something would. He took a deep breath, before he walked along the street.

He kept eyes on the houses and other buildings at all times, the slightest shadow almost making him jump in alarm and reach towards his kunai pouch. He saw a few of the local delinquints hanging out on the sidewalk. They glared at him with unamused disapproval, but other than that they didn't make any sort of move.

In the cool autumn night, the wind and the rustling leaves was the only thing that could be heard as Naruto made his way down the desolate Moku Avenue. This was mostly the residential area of the district; if he went down a little further he would come across the shops and businesses that the seedy area of Konoha boasted.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and in a nearby alley he saw a few shadows moved farther back into the darkness. He turned around and stood rigid, his heart pounding as he outright drew a kunai.

As soon as he had done that, the streets fell quiet immediately, and the shadows never appeared again. Naruto cast a suspicious glance behind him, as if he was waiting for something to come out, before he put the kunai back in his pouch.

The street became lit up after he had walked for four more minutes, and a few bars and restaurants replaced the run-down houses. Over on the street corner, it looked like there was a drug deal going on.

That wasn't what he was concerned about, though. His attention was focused fully on the building directly across the street from where the drug deal was occurring. For a bar in this area of town, it really knew how to stand out.

A blue neon sign displaying the words "Ringo's Bar and Restaurant" were proudly displayed at the bar on the street corner, and for this area of town it looked a little bit too nice.

A few of the surlier patrons glared at him as he entered the bar, though he couldn't tell whether it was for no reason or for the same reason why everyone else in the village glared at him.

He walked through the alley of the restaurant, coming up to the bar where a few men sitting there looked like they had one too many. A stupid looking young man in his twenties gawked as he sat down at the bar.

"Whadda hell is tha demon 'id doin' here?" he slurred drunkenly. Naruto pointedly ignored the man, nothing good would come from talking to him. The twenty-something guy didn't seem to like being ignore, and his hand shot out and grasped Naruto's cheeks, forcing the boy to look at him.

"I _said..." _he tightened his grip on Naruto's face, and Naruto almost reached for his kunai pouch, wanting to slice off the fingers that were constricting his throat.

"What the hell is tha demon kid doin' here?" he hiccuped, as he got into Naruto's personal space and let his booze-breath wash all over the poor boy. A glint of steel later, and a few shallow gashes appeared on three of the man's fingers

The drunk cried out in pain, retracting his hand from Naruto's face as he gingerly cradled his injured hands. Naruto looked shocked at what he had just done, pulling a kunai on a civilian.

"Aaagggghhh! You fucking demon kid! I'll kill you for this! I'll kill you!" the drunk rose from his seat, and all of a sudden the entire bar had their attention on the commotion.

A few of the more rowdy patrons rose from the seat at the sight of their apparent friend getting injured by Naruto, and the boy was beginning to regret his decision to lash out. These men looked big from his seven-year old standpoint, and they might've even had a former ninja in the group.

"Pipe down, you damn scumbags!" a loud, authoritative voice bellowed as the kitchen doors swung open. Naruto looked around, and almost sighed in relief when he saw a large man step out of the kitchen and stand in the bar.

The guy looked like a thug, but Naruto still relaxed in his presence regardless. The man looked to be in his late 30's or early 40's. He was almost seven feet tall and made up of pure muscle. On his left bicep was a tattoo of the Konoha symbol that was commonly found on the village hitai-ate. He was completely bald and wore a hoop earring in his left ear, and his black, beady eyes stared out at the patrons viciously.

The room was silent immediately, and the customers who had rose from their seats froze in place. Their arms fell to their side, because they didn't dare start anything with the bar's owner there.

"Ringo!" Naruto cried out with joy, before the gruff-looking bar owner glanced down and saw Naruto sitting there on the stool. The man's mood took a 180, and he grinned toothily down at the boy.

"Well, if it isn't Naruto! I haven't seen your ass in here ever since you landed yourself in the academy and got that new apartment of yours down the street. I take it the orphanage finally had enough of you..." he said that last part darkly, as if the sentence promised pain to whoever it was talking about. The patrons backed up at the sight, even if it wasn't directed at them. The ones who had almost started a fight with Naruto cleared the building.

"Well, I thought I was making friends with a couple of kids there, but the mistress threw me out right after that and Hokage-jii-chan got me my apartment later..." he said, shifting his eyes to the side a bit. He wasn't telling the whole truth, and Ringo knew it.

Still, the bar owner ruffled the boy's hair regardless, his large hand covering pretty much all of the top of Naruto's head.

"How long has it been... since the time you ran away from that orphanage and found yourself sleeping in the garbage outside my bar?" Ringo asked, before Naruto smiled.

"Two years!" Naruto chirped. He still remembered the day pretty clearly. He had been fed up with all the crap that he had to deal with at the orphanage from the mistress, so against his better judgement he had run away. Unfortunately, the unwise five-year old was as lost as could be in the worst part of time, and it's a miracle he survived even one day unscathed.

He had met Ringo that day, the proprietor of the bar where he had slept outside for that night. At first, Ringo wanted nothing more than to tell him to take a hike, but after seeing the pitiful state the boy was in, the bar owner took him in and fed him.

For Naruto, this bit of kindness was like a message from God. Especially if the kindness was found in this section of town, where the laws didn't seem to hold as much water, and the citizens weren't as bright as they could've been.

He had gone back to the orphanage after his one night stay in the bar, but after that he always seemed to come back whenever he had the chance. Ringo seemed to welcome the boy's presence, like he enjoyed his presence.

"Oi, Ebi! Get your ass out here, we've got special company!" he shouted into the kitchen loudly. The other patrons had finished clearing their tables, most of their food untouched. All that was left in the restaurant was Naruto and the owner himself.

"What is it, Daddy?" asked a low-pitched yet feminine voice. The voice's owner exited the kitchen, and stared at her apparent father.

The young woman of around nineteen that had exited was dressed in an obvious uniform of a waitress, and the name tag on it signified that she was the head waitress at the bar/restaurant.

Despite her moniker, Ringo's daughter was anything but shrimpy. She was over six feet tall, no thanks to her incredibly long and slender legs that seemed to go on for miles. Her long curly black hair was pulled into a high ponytail so it would be out of her way while she worked. Her face was beautiful in its own unique and sultry way, as she looked old for her age having next to no youthful features, like she was in her early or mid-twenties. Her eyes were a sharp hazel, she had a button nose, and her lips were overall full and pouty.

All in all, she was incredibly attractive, and would probably be a common street whore in these parts had it not been for her father. Ebi turned to the barstool, where she saw the small seven-year old sitting there happily.

"Naruto-chan!" she cried, before she practically threw herself over the counter to hug the boy. Naruto recoiled as a girl who was twice his size and weight scooped him up in a bone-crushing hug.

Naruto wheezed as he was pressed against her chest, the six foot tall girl lifting him clean off the ground as she hugged him excitedly. She had clearly missed him a lot in his time gone.

"It's so good to see you again. It's been months since you got that apartment, and I was worried that you forgot about us for a second." she said, as she released the boy and allowed him to breathe. She giggled at his expense before sizing him up.

"My, how you've... grown?" she said tentatively, realizing that he hadn't grown much at all. Naruto almost pouted at Ebi's assessment, feeling a little jealous of both her and her father's height. Ebi kneeled down, getting on eye-level with him.

"Guess not. You'd better start growing soon... or else you'll never be taller than my waist," she teased, ruffling the seven-year old's hair affectionately. Naruto pouted, he was at least up to her stomach now. He wasn't that short.

"Leave the kid alone, Ebi..." Ringo chuckled, as the head waitress bounded back over the counter and into the bar yet again. Naruto smiled yet again, before Ringo said something to Ebi.

"Get Naruto a bowl of ramen; it's been too long since he has come around here. It's on the house..." he said the last part to Naruto, before he grinned at him.

Naruto looked a little excited; their ramen wasn't as good as that new place he had been trying... Ichiraku's, but they were still good for a place that didn't specialize in it.

Fifteen minutes later, and a steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of Naruto. If they could pride themselves on anything, it would have to be their enormous portions, much bigger than Ichiraku's. Still, it was no match for Naruto, and he demolished it easily in a few minutes flat.

"Just as big an appetite as I remember..." Ringo commented. Naruto sighed in happiness, before he placed the bowl to the side and folded his hands. Ringo stared at him, waiting for him to say something, and Ebi took the bowl and a few seconds was back in the bar again.

Naruto rose from his seat, feeling a lot less comfortable when he realized he would have to leave the safe restaurant and once again go out into the street.

"It was nice to see you again, but that's not the reason I came back. I have a few important things to take care of while I'm here, so I need to go now, okay..." he said. Ebi and Ringo looked at each other slightly concerned, before Ebi spoke up.

"Naru-chan... you know as well as anyone else how dangerous this neighborhood can be for a child first hand. While I love the fact that you'd come down here just to see us, you've finally escaped that orphanage. I don't want to see you willingly putting yourself in harm's way just so you can come visit us..." Ebi said.

"Ebi-nee-chan... I..." he was about to say something, before he decided against it.

"Okay... I got it," he finished. Ebi and her father stared out at the boy as he ran from the building, looks of concern plastered all over their face. It wasn't the first time Naruto had gotten into trouble around these parts, and now he was running around alone on Moku Avenue again.

Naruto's face turned into a scowl as he stepped out of the light, and into the darkness. It was eleven o'clock by now, and that meant it was about time for him to meet up.

He turned around, and thought he saw another shadowy figure off to the left. His breathing got a little heavier, but he shrugged off the fact that he was intimidated by this place.

He took a deep breath and walked down the street to the right, in the opposite direction of his apartment. Six buildings away from Ringo's Bar, he found himself next to an old abandoned house. It had no roof at all, and other than a couple chairs and other bits of furniture, it was completely empty. However, the house wasn't what Naruto was there for. He looked towards the side; the end of the street was getting closer, and he could make out the whitewashed building that was his former orphanage now.

What really drew his attention was the trapdoor to the basement that was behind the house. It was an old wooden trapdoor, fitting with the rest of the house, but Naruto was intimidated by it anyway. He threw his hand out, and he hesitated before he rapped his hand against the wood of the trapdoor.

"What's the password?" asked a gruff voice from the interior. Naruto sighed; it was now or never.

"The Whitebark Pine grows in the deepest part of the forest..." he recited, the password making no real sense to him. The voice on the inside was silent, before there was a throwing of the latch, and the trapdoor creaked open to allow Naruto inside.

"Welcom-oh, it's just the demon kid..." The voice that had seemed happy to see him suddenly became a lot more belligerent as he noticed that it was Naruto.

Naruto could only see the silhouette of the person on the staircase, given how obscured by the dark he was. He turned around, and in a motion he gestured Naruto to follow him.

Naruto tentatively stepped into the basement, walking down the old staircase that was just begging to collapse on them. A flash of glowing light entered his peripheral vision, and he noticed a few candles on the wall, and some people sitting in the center of the room.

There were about seven or eight of them in total, all sitting at a large table which was the only noticeable feature in the basement besides a few cabinets the were alongside the far wall. Three of the group had Konoha forehead protectors on, and they all looked fairly young.

"Hmm, so it looks like the demon kid did realize the deadline was coming up and decided to come back... so, have you got our money yet? I mean, you'll have to go back to doing what you did before if you don't have it..." A small and squirrely Genin rose from his seat at the table, and judging from the tone of voice, he was the leader. He looked to be about eighteen or so, his boyish face standing out profoundly, though there were probably only one or two in the group who were older than him. He had short brown hair covered by his headband and hitai-ate, he was slightly freckled and his build suggested nothing special.

"I just need a little more time to get it up. I think I might've had the chance to steal from a really rich person! If you give me more time, I can easily get you double the promised amount!" Naruto bargained.

The eight older boys all turned to glare at Naruto, and he felt incredibly uncomfortable in their presence. Two of them were incredibly large, even to his seven-year mind.

"Are you trying to take advantage of the mercy of the Byakukawa Clan?" the leader of the group yelled out in anger, as he rushed forward at a speed Naruto couldn't comprehend, and seized the boy by his bangs.

"We gave you a set amount of time to get us that money; we didn't even care about the methods you used to obtain it. And now you're telling us you need _more time_? Do I have to remind you that it was _us_ who took you in when you had nothing? When you decided to run away from that orphanage for good, we _let_ you stay in this basement. Despite the fact that we'd probably be lauded by the rest of the village, we let you in. You would've died on the street if wasn't for us; Hokage-sama didn't find you until four months later. And after you got that apartment, you still owe us for all the times we put up with you!" the leader shouted.

"Mushi, settle down!" a large, fat twenty-one year old Genin cried. The fat one grabbed Mushi's arm as it worked its way down to Naruto's throat, and started suffocating him.

"Shut up! The demon kid needs to finally realize that his priorities are misplaced! You have until next Friday to get that money for us, regardless of whether or not you've come on to a good lead. Now, get out of my sight before I decide to cancel our deal and put you back to work right now!" Mushi shouted, before he released Naruto's throat. The seven-year old scrambled out of the basement where the gang hid-out, running off into the night alone. Mushi sat back down at the table.

"Mushi, was that wise? You know they don't like it when you damage merchandise..." another one of the members piped up. Mushi looked ahead, seeing a poster on the wall. It depicted a picture of a Whitebark Pine Tree, the gang's symbol. Below was the clan's creed, something that every member took to heart.

"Don't worry, we're still a long way from that. We need to recruit more as is, and we need to focus on making all of Moku Avenue our turf, and get a better hideout than this shitty old basement. To achieve either of those, we need more money. Lots more money... and what better way than extorting some from the demon kid?"

"But, if we sell him right now, we'll make a fortune that will easily put us ahead of any other clan in the village. A Jinchuuriki is easily the rarest type of merchandise, and it will sell at market price. The earlier the better, I say!"

"Look, don't worry about it just yet. We're still a long way from that happening, and we need to let the demon kid run around and develop a little more. Right now we can squeeze so much more work out of him, not to mention the traders won't even look at us right now. They're only interested in a more successful group. Even with something like Naruto, they won't give us the time of day!"

"Give him five years. By that time, we'll easily be the largest clan in the entire village... and the brat will most likely be a Genin by that time if he continues in the academy. Imagine how much they would pay for him then, so much more than they would now for an underfed, washed-up academy student..."

The other members of the Byakukawa Clan rubbed their chins, before they turned to the creed that was hanging on the wall. That was the beginning of it, the swearing of the White Bark as they called it.

"It's settled then, we'll become the biggest clan on Moku Avenue, and catch the eyes of the human traffickers. And after the demon kid has run around for a few years, we'll pawn him off as a slave..." Mushi finished.

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><p>Naruto ran out of the gang's compound as fast as his legs would carry him. He always hated having to do business with the Byakukawa Clan, but he had no choice. He was practically sworn in as a member they had so much interest in him. They forced him to do their dirty work and all their chores for the four months he had gone without an apartment, and they had promised to leave him be if he could scrounge up two million Ryou for them. He had only gotten sixty percent of the promised amount.<p>

He ran off to the side of the abandoned house, running down the alley between it and next door.

As soon as he emerged out onto the street, he was blindsided by a flying kick.

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><p>Again, I'm really sorry about the last update... but hopefully this will have kept you interested enough. Don't forget to review please.<p>

**Translations and Other Features**

Byakukawa: White Bark

Mushi: A little bit weird of a name for a character, but I chose this name for him to emphasize how worthless this guy's life is and how low he actually is.

See ya,

_**Alban55**_


	4. The Street Rats

Okay, I personally think this one is the weakest of my current four stories, but that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon it or anything. That said, you've probably figured out by now that updates are fairly scarce for this one, at least for the time being.

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><p>Chapter 4: The Street Rats<p>

Naruto got his hands up just in dodge the kick that would've smacked him right in the face. He was lucky, the leg apparently belonged to someone around his age. If it was an adult, or a trained ninja, he would've been knocked off of his feet.

Naruto managed to block successfully; the attack wasn't even at an academy student level of Taijutsu. In fact, it was a clumsy, awkward, and light kick, even for someone like Naruto. Naruto lowered his hands, before he backed up into a pile of logs that were situated next door to the Byakukawa Clan's hideout.

He knocked a log off of the rack, putting his back into the wall. He carefully reached into his pouch, pulling out a practice kunai and twirling it on his finger, ready to face his opponent. Hopefully, it wasn't a ninja or anything.

"Who's there?" Naruto asked, his heart pounding in his chest. He had wondered whether or not something like this was going to happen while he was here, but the Byakukawa Clan had always kept it off his mind.

"Whoa, take it easy!" said his opponent, who was obscured by the shadows of the awning. It did look like his assailant was around his age, which was unusual to say the least. Naruto had expected some big, powerful thug to have assaulted him.

The figure walked towards Naruto shakily, and Naruto noticed that his assailant seemed more terrified then he was. He had his hands held up in a submissive gesture, and he didn't seem to like the knife that was in Naruto's hand.

"Naruto, it's me! Remember!" the voice said, and Naruto began to drop his guard. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest move, but Naruto was beginning to recognize that voice. It was a voice from the orphanage, and not a voice he didn't want to hear.

Naruto had lowered the kunai completely, and out of the shadows came a lanky, almost underfed boy who was waving his hands back and forth, like he didn't mean any harm.

"Hyou?!" he asked. The lanky boy stopped in front of Naruto, where the other boy could take a better glimpse at him for the first time. Besides his lank, and his slight malnourishment, the boy's brown eyes shown with playful mirth. He had messy, dirty brown hair that was controlled by a cap on his head, though several strands escape out of the back of it. He was dressed in an ugly brown smock that seemed to hide ragged clothes underneath. His nose was slightly large, but other than that his appearance denoted a very plain boy who was obviously living in a less-than-stellar situation.

Naruto put his kunai away completely, and walked forward from against the wall. Hyou was smiling awkwardly at him, but Naruto thought he would be at least a little angry.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Hyou laughed. It was the same laugh that Naruto had always remembered, but they didn't really get to laugh much back at the orphanage.

"Following you!" he said, as if there was nothing wrong in the world with stalking. Especially on Moku Avenue.

"Why?!"

"Well, it's been a while since you've come back to this part of the village, hasn't it? But, don't you think you ought to say "sorry" to me?" Hyou said, the smile never leaving his face.

Naruto opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say, but he shut it when he realized that he had no idea what Hyou was talking about. What reason was there that he would have to apologize to him?

Hyou shot his finger forward, and jabbed Naruto in the chest more than a little forcefully. On his face was a shit-eating grin, showing that he most likely wasn't that mad at Naruto. Hyou wasn't the type of boy to hold a grudge for very long, after all. Yet, for some reason, Naruto had expected just that from him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Naruto!" he said. Naruto racked his brain at that; he had left the orphanage two years ago, but had gone back after he had learned that he couldn't survive on the streets. But, the orphanage hadn't exactly been kind to him, especially due to his running away, and he was forced to leave again one year after he had returned. He had spent the next several months living on the street, and if it hadn't been for Ringo, he probably would've died.

And throughout all his time in the orphanage, he had made only one friend. When all the other kids would barely even look at him, whether it be due to genuine hatred or the fear of retribution, all but one stayed away from him. That child had been Hyou, the boy that had almost kicked his face in just a couple of minutes ago.

Hyou was apparently the child of two ninjas who had died in the Kyuubi attack approximately seven years ago. A very common occurrence to be sure, but like many children orphaned by the Kyuubi, he was sent to the village orphanage due to the fact that he had no more family suitable of taking care of him.

While he was there, Hyou happened to be the only one brave enough to approach Naruto. When he had actually talked to the other boy, he had learned he was a far-cry from what the other kids, and even the orphanage mistress herself had said about him.

Naruto and Hyou had become fast friends, and for Naruto, Hyou was his only friend. But, as it turned out, the friendship of the two boys had an adverse effect on the rest of Hyou's life. He was seen as almost as big a freak as Naruto by the other kids of the orphanage, due to his association with Naruto. The orphanage mistress prevented Hyou from talking to Naruto, and Hyou pointedly ignored that advice. Every time he was caught playing with Naruto, he was punished, and so was Naruto.

Naruto closed his eyes, remembering all of those facts. Hyou had been both a blessing and a curse for him, and it seemed it worked both ways as well.

"You're mad because I left the orphanage, aren't you?" Naruto asked, a little nervous. When he had left the orphanage to pursue a better place, he was Hyou's only friend. Everyone else had been alienated from it, and it was likely that the alienation continued after he was gone. He had effectively abandoned Hyou.

"No, I'm not, Naruto! I actually left the orphanage right after you did!" Hyou said, his smile widening. Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion; the orphanage wasn't so easily left. You had to survive on the street after that.

"Have you been living on the street ever since?" Naruto asked. Hyou grinned even wider, and he placed his right hand inside his raggedy old smock, like he was putting a hand in his pockets.

"Well, I've had a little help, but yeah!" he said. His demeanor had changed since Naruto last saw him at the orphanage; he was actually significantly happier. Not that he was a depressed child in the first place.

"Come on!" Hyou said, as he lead Naruto by the arm out of the alleyway. He turned to the left, in the opposite direction of where Ringo's Bar and Naruto's apartment where located. They ran down the street for about three minutes, coming to the end of Moku Avenue. Naruto looked around, the old orphanage was dangerously close know, only a few more buildings down the street. They made their way into an alleyway between two buildings, similar to the one they had just exited.

"Hey guys, come on out! This is the Naruto I've told you about!" Hyou called out, a little too loudly in hindsight. It was a miracle that he didn't attract unwanted attention with that shout.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, as there was a lot of junk, and even a trapdoor to a basement which mirrored that of the Byakukawa Clan's headquarters. This time though, it seemed to be a basement to a building that was actually in use.

Despite that, there came a little rustling from the various items around that were scattered around the alleyway. A figure leaped down from the roof of one of the buildings, another one came out from hiding behind the trash can, and the door to the trapdoor opened. From the basement emerged two more figures, around the same size as Naruto and Hyou. In fact, all the shrouded figures were about their size, which meant...

When the four figures had converged in the center of the alley, Naruto noticed that they were all grubby-looking kids around his age, similar to himself and Hyou.

"Everyone, this is Naruto. He's a kid like me, one that ran away from the orphanage and lived on the street for a while. I think he's a perfect addition to the team!" Hyou said, pushing Naruto out to the forefront.

The four kids looked at the Jinchuuriki blankly, and Naruto smiled awkwardly. He wasn't really shy or anything, but dealing with a bunch of glares everyday had made him wary of unfriendly people.

"Uh... hi?" he deadpanned, and the kids continued to stare blankly at him. One of them seemed to be drooling, showing that he wasn't paying attention in the slightest, and that he wasn't very bright.

"Now, Naruto here is... is..." Hyou trailed off, remembering that he didn't really know just where Naruto had gone several months ago. He knew that he wasn't hanging around this side of the streets anymore, considering he had looked for a long time.

"Um... where did you go, Naruto?" Hyou asked sheepishly. Naruto looked at Hyou strangely; earlier he had said that it had been a while since Naruto returned to Moku Avenue, but...

"I have my own apartment now..." Naruto said. It seemed that was enough to jolt the other kids to the real world, and all four of them were paying close attention to him now.

"No way!"

"An apartment!"

"How!?"

Hyou himself looked very shocked at those words; a street rat like himself would never be able to get an apartment. That just made no sense; there should be no way that Naruto would be able to afford one.

"Well, I get a stipend from the Hokage. It's enough for me to rent my own apartment..." Naruto said. That itself was only half-true. While it was true that he did receive money from the Hokage as of late, it wasn't enough to be able to rent out an apartment. He was able to pay for his apartment because of the so-called _work_ he was doing for the Byakukawa Clan.

"The Hokage!?" Hyou asked, joining in on the conversation. He was staring at Naruto in amazement. A simple street rat getting the attention of the Hokage was unheard of.

"And I've been enrolled in the ninja academy... That's part of the reason why I get the stipend from him..." Naruto said. Once he became a Genin, the money would disappear from the Hokage tower, and he would have to use his own salary to pay for his home.

That sentence seemed to gain him even more attention from the crowd of kids.

"The ninja academy!?" Hyou vocalized the thoughts that were on everyone's mind. Naruto once again proved to be amazing. A normal street rat like Naruto shouldn't be able to be accepted into the ninja academy. Hell, the ninja academy was pretty prestigious. Unless the student was a spoiled clan kid, there was absolutely no guarantee that they would be admitted there.

"How'd you get in? You're not some clan kid or anything!" Hyou commented. Naruto looked around, before he grinned sheepishly. It was the perfect chance for him to show off.

"Maybe they just recognized my awesome skills is all!" he bragged. Hyou looked annoyed at that type of answer, but the other kids didn't care about that.

"So that means... you can tell us all about what you do in the academy, and maybe even teach us a few ninja skills!" one of the boys piped up. He looked the most excited, given that he seemed to be the youngest. He didn't realize that such a thing was probably illegal, if not treason.

"I guess..." Hyou clapped his hands, bringing order to the group once again.

"Come on, we shouldn't stand out here in the open for so long. Let's go inside, we can discuss what's going to happen in there!" he said, walking over to the trapdoor, and pulling it open, struggling a little with his seven-year old build. He gestured to the others, before they looked around for anyone who might be spying on them. They too entered the basement, with Naruto himself following closely behind them.

He entered the basement, feeling a sense of déja-vu with the Byakukawa Clan residence. They seemed to be underneath a restaurant of sorts. The basement was far, far bigger than the one in the abandoned house, and it seemed to be more of a storage room. The group of kids were huddled in a blocked off corner of the room, heavy boxes surrounding them on all sides. It was a little bit cramped with Naruto there, but he doubted it was much better even without him.

He huddled down beneath them, feeling a little anxious due to the fact that they were trespassing. The kids looked at him expectantly, but Hyou spoke up first.

"This is our secret base for the time being, until we can get a better one. We meet here approximately five times a week after it gets dark, because everyone besides me have parents." Hyou explained.

"And so what do you want me to do?" Naruto asked. He had a feeling what Hyou was going to ask next.

"Well, Naruto. I saw you running down the street, and I saw you disappear into that alley. I've been meaning to ask this in case we ever found you, but we want you to be a part of us!" he said excitedly.

"Now that you're a part of the ninja academy, you can teach us everything we need! This is just a super bonus for us, to be sure. We didn't expect that you'd be on your way to being a ninja!" he said.

Naruto mulled over this fact for a little while. He wasn't making any friends at the academy, what with Sasuke and Kiba there for example. Plus, it gave him an opportunity to reunite with his old friend Hyou. But, he didn't like Moku Avenue, he had bad memories of this place. Of the orphanage, and of living on the street. He took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'll do it. I'll join you guys," he said. Hyou looked pleased, if only for the fact that he was joining their group. The rest of them also looked pleased, but that was probably only because he could teach them to be ninja, albeit poor ones.

"Good." Hyou said simply, before he clapped Naruto on the back. Naruto allowed a wide smile to grace his lips; he had never thought he would be happy going to this place.

There came the sound of rattling glass, as the door to the basement from inside the building opened suddenly, and light flooded the room. What was apparently an employee walked down the staircase carrying some kind of box.

"Oh, shoot! They usually don't come down here this late! We're going to have to cut our meeting short tonight. Let's just get out of her before they find us. . ." Hyou said. Fortunately, they were secluded by the line of boxes, which cut them off from the rest of the storage room. The kids scrambled to their feet as quickly and as quietly as they could, and were soon filing out of the basement before that employee decided to look behind any of the boxes.

Naruto emerged out of the basement, being shoved around by the other kids. He took a deep breath, before he turned around to look at Hyou. The other kids were already scrambling over the fence or running out into the street.

"Ten o'clock, Monday through Friday is when we're supposed to meet, but not everyone can make it. Just come when you can; we meet here every time."

Hyou was also about to hop the fence, to wherever the street rat stayed, but Naruto stopped him.

"Wait, Hyou! Why have you made this group?" he asked, before Hyou halted on the middle of the fence, his back turned to Naruto. His body tensed and then relaxed, and when he spoke, he was completely serious.

"You know it's not easy to live in this part of the village alone, Naruto. All of those guys come from poor or painful families, and there is one thing that binds us all together. We want to be ninjas, Naruto. We don't want to have to live in this place forever, but other than that we stick together to protect ourselves, and be there for each other."

"It probably hasn't gotten much easier for you, has it Naruto? Even though you've moved to a better part of the village, and are in the ninja academy, people hate you..."

Naruto looked glum; it was true. The hate from the villagers hadn't eased up in the slightest.

"You need friends just as much as I do," Hyou said with an afterthought, before he just over the fence, leaving Naruto there alone with his thoughts. When it came to friends, the academy was going to be one big bust.

Then, he remembered the girl he had met the other day. The daimyo's granddaughter, and the princess of the Hi no Kuni. She was the polar opposite of himself, Hyou, and the rest of the group, but he had found similarities between the two of them.

It took him a while to get out of Moku Avenue and onto Main Street once again, where he could immediately walk up the stairs to his apartment. After inserting his keys, he collapsed onto his old bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating the decision he had just made. Besides Hyou, those other kids weren't interested in him personally. They were just interested in what he had to offer.

He turned over; there was no lamp or anything, so the room was already pitch-black. He looked out the window, at the crescent moon. In three days, he would go back to the spot where he had met Fumiko, and they were going to train together. Naruto was half-expecting it to be some kind of prank.

* * *

><p>Three days later, and Naruto stepped out of his apartment into the brisk morning air. Fumiko was apparently knowledgeable about how Konoha worked, because she had picked one of the days when he didn't have to go to the academy.<p>

He sighed and laughed, before he thrust his hands into the air. His usual crap at the academy, and the stress of Moku Avenue wasn't involved today, and as such he didn't feel nearly as stressed. The only thing he had to deal with today was the hatred of the villagers. He had thought about pulling some pranks later today, maybe, if he felt like it enough. What was really on his mind at the moment was his assignment. He had gone on and got more money yesterday, but it wasn't enough. He had one week and one day to get the full amount, and there was only one way that he was going to do that...

"Okay, today's the day! I'm going out into the woods again! Good thing too, I need to get away from this village!" he shouted to himself, before he slid down the railing into the village proper.

There were not many people out today, even despite the fact that it wasn't raining or anything. He darted down the street, a smile on his face, before he jumped onto the roof.

"Oh, man! I love doing that!" he exclaimed, as someone yelled at him for being careless. Naruto pointedly ignored them though, and he continued to bound through the rooftops until he had landed outside the village gates to the training grounds. The secret area was just beyond there.

He came across the secret area after passing through one of the training grounds, and out into the woods. It had taken him quite some time, but it was all worth it.

The creek that ran through the middle of the clearing confirmed that it was the same area, but he didn't hear any music like last time. Still, Naruto could find his way to where Fumiko's property was. He followed the creek into the forest, coming to the spot where he had first met the girl.

She wasn't there.

Naruto continued to follow the creek up into the woods a little ways. He could see where Fumiko had told him to get off of her property, but she still wasn't there. Naruto regretted not owning a watch; he could tell what time it was it he did own one.

"Hello!" Naruto hollered, his voice echoing through the trees. It scared off a few of the birds, and Naruto wondered whether or not he had shouted a little bit too loud.

"Calm down! I'm right here..." came a girlish voice from behind Naruto. The boy turned around suddenly, seeing Fumiko walking towards him in a direction that he had not checked yet.

The daimyo's granddaughter was dressed in the practically the same attire that she had been wearing a few days ago, when Naruto had met her. She didn't seem to be carrying any ninja weapons, as it was likely that her family didn't have any, or most likely just hidden away from where she could get to them.

"You... Fumiko," Naruto said. A vein almost popped on her forehead, but she decided to let it slide. She couldn't lose her training partner along with her temper. She had to keep her cool for the time being, and lash out at him once they became friends.

"I'd prefer Fumiko-sama the next time you decide to address me..." she said huffily, before she sat down on a stump. For a girl who talks like that, she really didn't care about dirt or anything.

"Regardless, I am pleased you decided to show up. I am also pleased that I finally have someone to train with. Shall we not waste any time, and get right into it?" she asked, before she stood up.

A thought occurred to her first.

"Oh! This is so embarrassing, but I don't even know your name yet!" she said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. Naruto grinned awkwardly, as Fumiko rose from her archaic Taijutsu stance.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto!" he said. Fumiko nodded at him, before she lowered herself into that Taijutsu stance yet again.

"Well then, Naruto. How about this? Do you think you can take me in a fight?"

Naruto's eyes widened at that prospect, and he found himself facing down the granddaughter of the daimyo in what was supposed to be a simple sparring match.

* * *

><p>Okay, this Chapter's done finally. I'd be really grateful if you reviewed.<p>

I kept the other members of Hyou's gang a secret for now. I want to reveal them in full a little bit later, when I can flesh out their characters a little more to my liking. They'll be fairly important though.

Hasta Luego,

_**Alban55**_


	5. Clan Wealth

Okay, I have a big announcement to make right here. As it turns out, as I've been developing this story in my head, it's going to take a completely different direction that what the summary indicates. It's not nearly as focused as I thought on Naruto's legacy as Minato and Kushina's son, so I've changed the summary to reflect what I want this story to be about.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Clan Wealth<p>

Naruto spluttered and tried to form out a response as the girl stared him down forcefully, her body contorted into what he thought was supposed to be a Taijutsu stance. It certainly looked like one, but it wasn't anything he had ever seen before, and even Naruto could poke a few openings in that stance. It was pathetic, and he was definitely going to tell off the girl when they were done with their spar. As for now, it seemed like a fight would end in disaster, and he was going to make that known.

"Fight you?! Uh, I don't think I can do that!" he shook his head forcefully, and that seemed to get the girl offended. She huffed at the boy in a feisty manner, never leaving her Taijutsu stance.

"Why not? Is it because I'm a _girl?_" she asked, her voice taking on a mocking representation of Naruto's voice. Naruto opened his mouth to protest, before he grumbled something to himself. There were a few unfortunate implications in what he just said, but gender happened to have nothing to do with this. Not in the slightest.

Naruto responded to that defensively.

"It's not that you're a girl, Fumiko! At the academy, I've sparred with lots of girls, and I go all out on them too. It's just... I'm not going to get thrown in jail for attacking you, am I?" Naruto explained awkwardly. It sounded much more stupid when he said it than in his head, and it sounded stupid in his head as well.

Fumiko managed to look even more offended at that, if that was even possible. How much of a mood swinger was this girl anyway?

"Oh, so it isn't because I'm a girl, but because I'm the granddaughter of a daimyo!? That's even worse than being treated weaker because I'm a girl! You're just like the rest of them, who treat me like some delicate little flower to be put on display!" Fumiko said. It looked like an unfortunate case of "rebellious princess" in this one.

"N-No, I'm not treating you like that at all! It's just... what with you being the granddaughter of a daimyo, and your Taijutsu stance is all bad..." Naruto spluttered out, much to the ire of Fumiko. He probably shouldn't have said that last one, as a vein popped in her forehead.

"Ex_-cuse_ me? My Taijutsu stance is _what?!_" she cried, a vein popping in her forehead. She wasn't about to just stand there and take such a blatant insult to her.

Her face was completely red by now, though her cheeks were even redder than the rest of her face. Naruto looked around awkwardly, wondering about the girl's anger issues. Maybe it was just natural, but her upbringing probably had something to do with this. She just wasn't used to being put down.

"_At least I haven't been thrown in jail yet..._" Naruto thought, thinking that she at least wasn't that type of noble. Still, she did seem rather incensed at the moment, and ready to attack him. This probably was going to be particularly brutal for a spar.

"You dare insult me like that? My Taijutsu stance is bad, you say? Do you honestly expect me to be able to just correct it like that? I brought you here so you could help me train, not so you could just stand there and criticize me!" she huffed, and her tone took on a an almost royal orderly voice.

"We're sparring, and you _will _fight me, whether you want to or not!" she ordered, pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. The boy continued to look bewildered.

"Wipe that stupid look off your face!" she said immaturely, and against her better judgement she charged the boy. The charge was reckless and kind of sloppy, and Naruto was standing his ground easily.

She threw a haphazard punch that had a surprising amount of force behind it, but it was slow and it left her wide open. Naruto caught the punch easily, though he winced slightly from the resistance and surprising strength.

He released her fist, and the girl followed with a slow and telegraphed roundhouse kick that Naruto managed to duck under. Fumiko couldn't really handle the force of her own attack, and she stumbled in place a little bit. Her moves were filled with unnecessary motions.

Roaring, she thrust herself forward half-falling in an attempt to grab Naruto around the neck. For all Fumiko was worth, that managed to catch him off guard for a moment, but Naruto instinctively thrust his palms forward, catching the girl in the stomach and pushing her off of him.

_"It would just end up on the ground if it went on like that..._" he thought to himself, as the girl went skidding along across the ground. She was pretty durable for such a small girl, though. Not as durable as he was, though.

Painfully, she drew herself to her feet, wincing at the few small cuts along her arms and legs. While she was disoriented, Naruto used the opportunity to go on the offensive. It didn't seem like that much of a spar anymore, but then again maybe it never really was.

He rushed the girl, jumping in mid-air and aiming a kick to her left shoulder. The girl tried to catch it with her hand, a bad move considering how much force was behind it. Naruto's leg impacted her shoulder, and he smiled cheekily when he felt it connect. That was going to leave a mark.

Fumiko managed to hold her ground despite that hit, and she blindly threw another punch out of nowhere. Naruto swatted it to the side easily, and then used his free hand to lay another hit on Fumiko's face.

Fumiko gasped in pain, before she flopped onto the ground. Naruto grinned excitedly; beating up a stuffy noble girl was pretty damn fun, he admitted. Fumiko's face was already beginning to swell up.

"Okay, we're done..."

"W-Wait..." came the girl's voice, as she got to her feet. Her face was swollen, and she looked a little dirty and cut up, but other than that she didn't look too bad.

"You lost!" Naruto cried at the girl. Fumiko grit her teeth, but she was already out of breath and tired. To top it all off, she lacked stamina. At this rate, she couldn't even _think _about becoming a ninja.

"If we were supposed to spar, I was expecting someone strong! But that was some of the lamest fighting I've ever seen!" Naruto shouted at her, as the two glared at each other.

"S-Shut up!"

After this, it seemed to devolve into a mud-slinging fest where the two children just continued to hurl insults at each other

"You don't have any talent; what have you been teaching yourself this whole time?"

"Oh yeah, well what about you? Do you feel tough beating down on a defenseless girl because you go to the academy?"

"It was _your_ idea to spar, and you're the one who said not to go easy on you!"

"Yeah, well I just assumed you'd be smart enough to realize that you needed to fight down at my level!"

The two kids continued to shout at each other even as they rushed each other, throwing clumsy punches and kicks at each other. It wasn't even like a ninja battle any more.

More often than not, their punches would connect. However, Naruto could simply shrug off Fumiko's because of his remarkable stamina and durability, while she was getting more worn-down.

"You're just used to everything going your way, _princess_..." Naruto shouted with blood running down his cheek, which make Fumiko growl in a remarkably unladylike tone. She was knocked back onto the ground, and Naruto was triumphant once again. Fumiko clutched her cheek.

"Well, you're just an uncivilized street rat, so I guess I shouldn't have expected you to show any level of restraint. I mean, look at the way you're dressed, in that raggedy old t-shirt. And that dirt in your unruly hair. You look like trash that was just picked up off the street. I bet you don't even _have _parents, do you?"

When those words left her mouth, she immediately clapped her hands over it. She thought back to when she met Naruto within the village, and how he told her all about how much the village hated him. In hindsight, it was probably very unlikely that he had any parents.

Naruto froze in place when he heard those last words, and he stood rigid. Already Fumiko was beginning to regret what she had just said, given the response that Naruto was giving her...

He was already shaking in anger and sadness, his fists clenched.

However, after a few seconds...something odd happened. Naruto's face became calm and almost serene, as his body stopped shaking and he unclenched his fists.

His eyes became half-lidded, and his breathing slowed into calm, deep breaths from his mouth. Fumiko had gotten into a sitting position, and Naruto walked up leisurely to her and sat down.

"You're right, I don't have parents..." Naruto said, his voice particularly calm. But underneath the exterior, Fumiko could pick up an intense fury, one that was far greater than his usual yelling.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I d-didn't me-"

"Forget it... I don't care," Naruto said casually. He _definitely_ cared.

"Look, let's just talk about something else..."

"I may have told you this, but I'm just about finished with my first year in the academy..." Naruto said suddenly. Fumiko looked at him in confusion, as if wondering what that had to do with anything.

"I learned things this year. Taijutsu, weapons, and handseals mostly. They're even going to start teaching me actual jutsu next year!" he sounded a little bit excited at that.

"_Though, I learned the Henge no Jutsu from the Byakukawa Clan, and I think I've almost got it now!_" He snickered to himself at the thought that he was getting ahead of everyone else in his class, even if his grades were anything but stellar.

"Even though Iruka-sensei says all my senseis are teaching me the wrong thing, you've been working by yourself. That's why it's hard for you to keep up with me!"

Fumiko wondered about his state of mind with that statement, before she turned to look down at her feet. She had calmed down from the admittedly painful beating she had received, and was able to face facts.

"I know. I mean, I guess it makes sense that I lost to you so badly. No matter how much of a moron you are, you're still an academy student. Someone like me who has never even had a sensei won't be able to keep with you."

Naruto ignored the "moron" comment, and scratched his cheek with one of his fingers, right over where his whisker marks were.

"Just keep at it. If you set your mind to it... you can become a ninja, Fumiko," he said. Fumiko looked at him, surprised, before she gave him a soft smile, which was...unusual, to say the least. He also noticed that she didn't seemed bothered by the lack of "-sama". She didn't say anything, but her expression was all too telling.

She was definitely thanking him.

Fumiko got to her feet, and it was like the previous sour mood between the two was never there, and was replaced with this sort of amiable acceptance between them. She smiled down at him again, holding out a hand and helping him to his feet.

"Well, even if we got mad at each other a lot, I really like sparring with you, Naruto. I also feel like I learned a lot, and maybe I can see myself becoming a ninja now..." she said.

"If possible, I'd like to do this again..." she said wistfully.

"Same spot, evening next Wednesday! Does that work for you?" she asked, to which Naruto nodded dumbly. It would be the last chance he got to pull off his...task, and he couldn't blow it then either.

It was at this point that Naruto noticed the time. The sun was high up in the sky, which meant that it was about noon. He had school at around 1 on Thursdays, and he got the feeling that Fumiko would be expected back at her manor pretty soon.

Indeed, Fumiko was already walked in what he presumed to be the direction of her manor, and Naruto noted that she had a lot of guts to sneak out so much just to train. He wondered how many times she had been caught.

She waved to him, her demeanor particularly warmer than this morning or their previous meetings. Naruto turned around in the opposite direction, facing the village, and began to walk out of the forest.

He would have to come up with a suitable lie within the next few days.

* * *

><p>It was Friday, and the last day of Naruto's first year in the academy. Most of the students were celebrating, and Naruto would also be joining in his fair share of pranks and celebration, but for right now he was focused on something else.<p>

A bulletin board in the center hallway of the academy. The students would have about a month off from school before the next year began, but the last day at the academy also served another particular function. It was orientation for the new students that day during the evening, which also meant that many upcoming students for the next year would be weeded out. He remembered going through it last year, almost half of the students there were considered unfit to be a ninja. He remember just barely scraping by himself.

"So it turns out my cousin is starting up next year! She's really excited about it, from what I've told her!" a high-pitched girl's voice sounded throughout the hallway. Naruto turned around, and noticed Yamanaka Ino walking down the hallway, with Nara Shikamaru at her side and looking annoying with her constant chatter.

"How do you even know she's going to make the cut?" asked Shikamaru from the side. Ino looked almost insulted at the thought.

"Please, Shikamaru! My daddy says that the academy has never denied a Yamanaka entrance! But, just in case, he's going to give a generous amount of money to the school so they'll accept her!" Ino remarked.

Naruto bit his lip; that was an odd conversation. The Yamanaka Clan was fairly prominent around the village; it wasn't exactly an Uchiha or Hyuuga clan, but they were famous nonetheless. At least, that was what Ringo had told him one night.

A strange thought entered his head, and he looked over to the side towards another sheet of paper posted, different than the academy orientation sheet. It was the final grades for the past year.

He looked over them; they were broken into several different sections, with the overall rankings in bold at the top. He was dead-last in written assignments, partially because most of the teachers were biased against him, and partially because he just wasn't good at written assignments. Even without his senseis hating him, he would most likely be near the bottom of the barrel. He was somewhat below average on Taijutsu scores, but wasn't dead-last. There were no scores for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu yet, and the written assignments made up the bulk of his grade. Hence, he was the dead-last in the overall class.

Despite this, _his_ scores wasn't what he was concerned about. He looked near the top of the sheet, towards the Number One student of the year.

Uchiha Sasuke.

After that came Haruno Sakura in second, mostly due to her terrific written grades. After that came Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Akimichi Chouji, all in that order.

Naruto wasn't stupid; he remembered those names from when Ringo told him about the various ninja clans, and when he overheard the Byakukawa Clan talk about turf when he was in servitude to them. Except for Sakura, the top seven in the class were all from prominent ninja clans. The exception to this was Nara Shikamaru, who was just above Naruto in terms of grades. Naruto then looked at those past the top seven, and he was unsurprised to find out that everybody after that was some nobody that wasn't a part of any clan.

That was fishy... but Naruto didn't really think much of it. By the time he got home that day, he had completely forgotten all about it.

* * *

><p>By next Wednesday, Naruto had adjusted well into his break. Due to being off from school, he was spending more and more time around Hyou and his group. He couldn't do that tonight though, because tonight was time for his operation.<p>

He followed the same path back to what was once his personal clearing, and again followed the creek into the forest that was technically on the daimyo's property.

He spotted Fumiko sitting on a wide stump, swinging her legs back and forth while humming to herself. A smile was set upon her face this time, like she was eagerly waiting for him. This time, it looked like she had actually come dressed like a ninja this time, no sundresses or anything that would hinder her movement.

Her smile widened slightly as she saw him enter the area. She waved at him brightly, and he waved back. That was good; she seemed to be warming up to him compared to his previous encounters with her, and he could probably make a little headway with her.

"Hey, how are you, Naruto?" she said amiably.

"Good, good..." he said, but on the inside he was anything but pleased. It felt...wrong to do this, even though he had pulled off stunts like this before. Still, this girl was rapidly becoming his friend. She believed that, and _he_ believed that.

"So, I was thinking we could focus on weapons this time around. What do you think?" Fumiko asked. Naruto looked perplexed; she was completely different than the girl he had met, though this was a welcome change if anything.

"Uh...sure. I brought some practice kunai and shuriken from the school," he said, taking the pouch off of his leg and laying it down in front of them. Fumiko looked fairly excited.

"That's good, because I never get to use ninja weapons that often. I mean, we have a few special kunai and shuriken in our mansion, but I can only take one at a time without anyone noticing they're gone," she replied.

Naruto didn't respond, instead opting to open the the pouch and spill a dozen kunai and shuriken out onto the ground in front of them. Fumiko stared in slight awe at the tools, and continued to stare as Naruto picked up a kunai and threw it at a tree about twenty-five feet away.

The knife embedded into the bark slightly off-center, but it would serve its purpose regardless.

"Okay, let's use that kunai as a marker. Try to get as close to hitting that as possible. If you knock the kunai out of the tree, it means you win! Pretty cool, right?!" Naruto added. Fumiko nodded enthusiastically, picking up a shuriken and chucking it recklessly. The star whirred past the indicated tree and flew straight past its mark, missing completely as it embedded into the dirt.

She had the decency to look embarrassed, before Naruto grinned at her cheekily. He picked up his own shuriken, and chucked it with the same degree of recklessness. It was off by quite a bit, but at least it was embedded into the tree this time.

Fumiko blushed a deep scarlet, before she huffed, a frown marring her face. That insufferable smirk was back on Naruto's face, and she couldn't bear to be outdone by him again. She picked up a few kunai, and threw them all at once towards the tree.

The first one veered off to the left, the second fell down towards the roots of the tree, but the third one struck the bark about three feet below the target, much closer than Naruto's first attempt.

Fumiko smirked at Naruto arrogantly, and now it was his turn to frown. The air got a competitive edge to it, and the two kids tried to outdo each other in weapons throwing.

A couple hours later, and the sun had completely set. They had wasted all the daylight throwing weapons against trees, and were completely worn out. Each one of them had managed to knock the kunai out several times, bringing an end to their little competition.

Naruto wiped his brow, before he looked up. It was a crescent moon out tonight, and the forest was almost pitch-black. Naruto bit his lip, and spoke to Fumiko.

"It's getting kinda dark out here, isn't it?" Naruto asked, his voice tinged with worry. Fumiko raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.

"Uh, I don't suppose you know how to get out of the forest, do you?" Naruto asked sheepishly, as realization finally came over Fumiko.

"Oh! You're right! It's too dark for you to try to navigate your way out of here in this darkness. What do you think we should do?!" she asked, slightly worried.

"Well... I don't know. I guess I could spend the night out here," he said, sitting on a nearby stump. Fumiko continued to look perplexed, before she got an idea.

"Hey, I know! I'll take you take to my manor! You can stay the night at my house!" she cried. Naruto got the impression that she didn't have many friends, if any at all. Well, a few months ago, and they would've been in the same boat as far as that was concerned.

"Well, if you say so... but won't your granddad mind?"

"Oh, you're not going to be meeting him..." she said, waving off Naruto's concern. "He and my grandma are off in the Taki no Kuni to do a few negotiations. It's just me, and the servants. They won't do anything if I order them to stand down!"

Naruto thought about his luck. Just one week ago, and they would've been tearing at each other throats while Fumiko acted like a spoiled snob and demanded that he call her "-sama". Now here she was acting like a cheerful, fun-loving girl. Maybe that was the only way she could really deal with people at first?

"Even if you can't find your way back to Konoha, I know how to get to our manor from here," she said, gesturing Naruto to follow her. The two kids weaved through the trees on the daimyo's property hidden in the forest came into view.

Naruto's eyes widened as the manor came into view for the first time. He had never seen it before, and he knew the daimyo was likely to live in a huge house, but this was just..._damn!_

It was similar in architecture to a few of the high clan compounds around the village, such as the Hyuuga, but was on a completely greater scale than even them. The Hyuuga clan compound was a series of smaller buildings connected as one to house such a large population. The daimyo's mansion was similar; there were a whole bunch of smaller buildings that surrounded the main building, which was the key difference between the Hyuuga clan compound.

"The servants quarters..." Fumiko pointed out, noticing Naruto's interest in the surrounding buildings. That was the main gist of what they were, but Fumiko also pointed out buildings that had other uses, for things such as storage, a rec room, and a distillery. There was even a pond in the distance behind the farthest servant's quarters. Naruto looked over to the west; there was a side-road that led to the daimyo's manor from the main road, but it was tucked in the woods by over a mile, it seemed like.

The main feature of the this complex was the mansion in the center of it all. That must've been where the daimyo lived. It had a strange resemblance to the Hokage mansion in Konoha, but it was more rectangular in shape and much, _much_ bigger.

It was five floors high, with an extra setup on the roof that doubled as a balcony. Directly below that roof, there was an insignia of what appeared to be three flames, the symbol of the Hi no Kuni.

Fumiko grabbed Naruto and threw themselves behind a nearby building, peering her head out as she looked over at what seemed to be one of the side doors. The manor was fairly well-protected, though there was a lack of any ninja really guarding the place, especially since this the daimyo himself was rarely at this lesser manor of his. Shinobi such as the Twelve Guardian Ninja were never stationed at this one, and all of his normal ninja guards had accompanied him on his trip.

With only Fumiko and her parents to be guarded at the moment, and the daimyo's temporary absence, it wasn't a high priority.

Fumiko grinned when she saw two very familiar guards guarding that side door, and she motioned for Naruto to follow her. The two masked guards seemed to notice her presence, and nodded to each other.

"Fumiko-sama... you're back," the male guard of the group chuckled, as he walked forward to greet the daimyo's granddaughter. He put a hand on her shoulder, before his partner noticed Naruto.

"And this is..." the female guard nodded. Fumiko grinned at her. They weren't ninja, but they definitely were the only ones who approved of Fumiko's secret training.

"This is Naruto... my training partner. He got caught out in the woods tonight, so he needs a place to stay. He'll be staying here tonight with us..." she ordered. The two guards looked at each other.

"We will alert the staff that there will be a guest, and we'll make sure your_ father_ doesn't know that there is a boy staying with his precious daughter tonight..." the female guard said. Underneath her mask, she was probably winking at the children.

"But, your parents and the servants will throw a fit if they find out that you are out in the woods training to be a ninja. We will have to get you to the dressing rooms and put you in your standard sleepwear as always..." the female stated. Fumiko nodded.

"Tanzou here will take you to the guest's room. I'll come and find you as soon as I'm ready..." Fumiko said to Naruto. After that, she followed the female who was apparently in on this whole "training" thing, leaving him alone with Tanzou.

He got a little creeped out by the mask, but his tone was friendly enough as he opened the door for Naruto.

"Please, come inside. I'll show you the way to one of the guest rooms..." he said affably, as Naruto stepped inside the building. Despite the fact that it had a welcoming air to it, it made him nervous. This would be the most difficult job he had ever pulled, and it would not be easy.

As he walked through the hallways of the manor, he saw easy pickings everywhere. So many goodies lined the halls of the daimyo's manor, but he needed to make sure they didn't notice anything was gone. He was just lucky that there seemed to be no ninja at this manor tonight, because that would make stealing and getting away with it impossible. However, he would have to be sneaky about this, and wait until Fumiko had gone to sleep before he started pilfering things.

* * *

><p>Okay, chapter done.<p>

Now, I'd like to address something here. Yeah, I know I made Naruto a lot smarter than he is in canon, but I think I can semi justify this. So far, I have already alluded to several different things that happened in his backstory that are not canon. Particularly, hanging around a grizzled former Jounin, living on the streets, and being in the servitude of a gang of Genin for several months. Besides, I haven't completely dropped just _what_ he was forced to do while working for the Byakukawa Clan. I don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibility that he picked up some knowledge and became a little more savvy when he went through those experiences, which he did not go through in canon. (He's still just as book dumb, though)

You can disagree if you want, but that's the way I see it.

See ya, and please review.

_**Alban55**_


	6. Venom Demon

Hmm...

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Venom Demon<p>

When Naruto was brought to the guest room nearest Fumiko's main quarters, another servant was waiting there to tell him that Fumiko would be down for him in a few short minutes.

"_They really like to be formal around here..._" he thought.

After a few moments, he heard the soft pitter-patter of sandals on wood as the footsteps apparently moved down the stairs. He didn't pay attention to it too much, because he was too busy looking around the guest room he was currently staying in.

His face almost turned green with envy.

With the amount of money this mansion apparently cost, and the things that they filled it with, he could probably buy the entire village of Konoha and then some.

Now that he had seen the inside of their house, he didn't doubt their wealth.

It was truly opulent, Naruto realized, as he stared at a fresco that served as the side wall to the room. They must have commissioned a lot for that one, and Naruto had the feeling that there were more throughout the house.

He had expected a gold mine ripe for pilfering, but by the looks of the room, and the glimpses of the house he had already gotten, this was far beyond his expectations.

He was drawn from his thoughts by the soft creaking of the door, and then by a giggling that was equally quiet. The door swung open wider, and Naruto's attention was drawn to Fumiko as she bounced into the room.

Naruto stared at her, and he was wondering if this was the same girl that he had trained with earlier today.

While at their own personal training grounds, Fumiko often gave off the impression of a tomboy, but here that was anything but the case.

She had completely abandoned the plain...er clothes that she had worn to training, and was now dressed in an expensive blue silk floral printed kimono that more than exemplified her status. Her hair was pulled into curls, and a soft, lady-like smile was plastered on her face.

Naruto ducked onto the bed, covering his face with a pillow in order to hide the blush that had sprouted onto his face. Fumiko stared at him quizzically, before she smiled.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" she asked.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing!" he responded, a little too quickly and a little too loudly.

"You can't be thinking about going to bed just yet; I haven't even showed you the entire place yet! Come on!" she shouted, gesturing for him to follow her. Apparently she still kept that tomboyish nature even while at home.

Naruto smiled in his head a little bit; it would be a perfect opportunity to find out where they were keeping goodies.

The children played for the next couple of hours, mostly with Fumiko showing him the layout of the house and all the secret passages that she could use to get out of the house. They even played hide-and-seek for a while, with Fumiko being the obvious winner.

Eventually, they got so tired that they returned to the guest room, where Fumiko promptly passed out on the bed where Naruto was supposed to sleep.

Naruto tucked her in soundly, seeing as he had no intention of sleeping here. He turned out the lights and listened at the door, hearing footfalls from a distance away. Considering that this was the daimyo's second home, and the one where only his family stayed, there weren't many ninja on the premises. The daimyo was also away on business, so there were likely even less ninja around currently due to orders to accompany him.

The lights went out a little later when the mansion seemed to close up for the night, but there would no doubt be active guards patrolling for the time being. He still needed to move carefully.

After about an hour more of waiting, and making sure absolutely everything was down, Naruto opened the door. Fumiko stirred in her sleep, and Naruto's breathing quickened quite a bit. Still, he managed to creep into the hall quietly enough, noting with relief that there were no guards posted in this stretch of hallway.

Gathering his bearings, Naruto looked around the house. The entire mansion had a very Elemental Countries style, and by extension oriental style to it, but there were bits and baubles around that were characteristically Western. Those would be his targets this time around; foreign objects were particularly valuable, and the ones that his thief's sense had noticed were small and easy to miss, and he doubted they would notice them to be gone, at least during the first couple of days.

If he could keep their absence from being noticed, most if not all suspicion of him would be eliminated, as more and more guests visited the house.

He turned the corner and entered a room. It was mostly empty, and seemed to only function as a meeting place for guests. He looked around the room, and noted with distaste that things he could pilfer off the walls weren't worth it. Bonsai trees and Ukiyo-e, worth money for sure, but hardly rare enough.

He needed to get to some kind of storage room. He mentioned Yukiko mention some type of treasury on the top floor, but it was heavily guarded. Over half the staff seemed to be wandering around that place at this time of night, so that was definitely a no-go. As he was about to exit the room and go to another wing of the house, he began to hear noises...

"Hey, why's this door open?!" came a voice, as heavy footfalls were heard coming from down the hallways.

"_Crap!_" Naruto screamed in his mind.

The two guards from earlier, who had escorted Naruto and Fumiko into the house, entered the room, looking around for anything suspicious. Naruto felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as he held his breath from his place on the ceiling, clinging to it like mad.

"Maybe we just forgot to shut the door?" Tanzou said, in befuddlement. His female companion seemed to nod in agreement at that, and when they had their backs turned, Naruto scurried out the door, still clinging to the ceiling.

When he had rounded the corner, he dropped off, sighing in relief. Almost busted already, and he hadn't even completed his objective yet. Luckily, his escape had brought him to a staircase, which could've possibly lead to more valuable rooms.

He made his way up to the second floor, careful not to run into any guards this time. It took some risk-taking and sneaking about on his part, but he finally hit the jackpot in a room by the back hallway near the staircase to the third floor.

From the looks of things, it was a room solely dedicated to the storage of antiques, and from the dust that was accumulating on top of it, these hadn't been touched in quite some time.

They had so much stuff that they didn't even know what to do with it.

He slid the door behind him very quietly, figuring he'd prefer to take his time with his pilfering. He opened up an old dresser, and grinned when he saw a few baubles inside. His eyes in particular were drawn to a very valuable looking emerald necklace, which was lying on top of a few other trinkets that Naruto could also use.

His hand hovered over the necklace for a moment, but when he was about to grab it he felt a strange sensation well up in his chest.

It kind of hurt, to be honest.

He steeled himself and shoved the necklace in his pocket, before moving to try to pick up a few other objects. The sensation of guilt never really went away even as he was pilfering other valuables, but why should Naruto feel guilty about this?

His new friend was _loaded_. She and her family had so much stuff lying around the house it was almost a crime in and of itself to keep all of it for themselves. Besides, this stuff was so dusty that he doubted they'd even miss it.

He couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that this was wrong, though. Maybe it was the fact that he was taking advantage of this girl so he could steal from her? But he needed to do this so he could be free of the Byakukawa Clan!

He was caught between two extremes. Take advantage of his friend, or feel the wrath of the Byakukawa Clan...

His impulses eventually overrode his conscience, and he stuffed as many small valuables as he could into his pockets, most of it jewelry that was lying around the room. Hopefully, it would be enough.

He shut the door behind him quietly; he would have to leave now, and leave a note with some excuse on it to let Fumiko know. When he had crept back into the guest room and left a note on the nightstand about an "emergency" back in the village, he swept out into the night, his pockets filled with valuables.

* * *

><p>"You're <em>short!<em>

Mushi turned over the table that the sack of valuables that Naruto had presented to them rested on. Naruto had robbed the daimyo's mansion just yesterday, which meant that today was the deadline to pay the Byakukawa Clan.

Naruto stared at the various gang members in shock; had no not taken enough? Why didn't he just ignore his conscience for ten more seconds in order to take just a couple more objects?

And the gang members looked mad too. Naruto turned to run away at that, but he was stopped in his tracks when two of the biggest thugs there blocked his only exit.

Mushi's hand shot out and grabbed Naruto's collar yet again, hoisting the small boy in mid-air. He glared forcefully at the academy student, but Naruto maintained eye contact with him.

"Still, I can tell you've been working hard for our sake to get this kind of money, and you even went out of your way to get us these nice treasures. However, I can't just overlook that you have failed your assignment. What to do..." he pretended to ponder, as an evil smile made its way onto his face. He dropped Naruto, who fell flat on his ass into the dirt.

"I've got just the idea!" he said, as if he had just come onto this amazing realization.

"What? What are you gonna do?" asked Naruto, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. Mushi grinned.

"It's simple. It's nothing, really. Since you failed to bring us the required amount, but got so close to it, I figured we could let you go scot-free if you just did _one_ more assignment for us!" Mushi said.

The two thugs blocking the trapdoor leading out cleared the way, both of them grabbing each edge of the table and hoisting it back upright. As they placed the valuables back on the table, Mushi pulled out a picture from a stack of papers in the back corner of the hideout. He took a seat at the table, motioning for Naruto to sit across from him.

Naruto hesitantly took the offered seat, looking warily at the picture.

"This woman's name is Sawahata Junko," Mushi began, as Naruto looked down at the picture. Naruto raised an eyebrow when he laid eyes on what seemed to be a kindly old woman dressed in a kimino, her grey hair pulled into a prim and proper bun on the top of her head.

"She's a resident of Moku Avenue that's been dedicated to "cleaning it up". She started a committee to help sort out the villagers that live in this part of town and see if she could bust some of the crime that's been going on recently."

Naruto got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"She's a former kunoichi of Konoha, Chuunin-level to be exact. We've had some troubles with her in the past, and she knows all of our faces by now. Thing is... she has a weakness," Mushi stared cryptically at Naruto.

"She is extraordinarily friendly to those who don't cause trouble for her, and most especially... children. When she finds out that you're an orphan of the village who has actually lived in the Moku Avenue orphanage, she will want to befriend you immediately, perhaps even want to have tea with you. That is when you..."

He pulled something out of his pocket, and Naruto noted upon closer inspection that it was a tiny little vial filled with some kind of clear liquid. Naruto almost mistook it for regular water at first, though it had a certain shine that water usually lacked.

"Slip this into her drink when she's not looking, and she'll be out of our hair forever. Do this one final task, and your debt to us will be repaid. Do you think you're ready to handle it?" Mushi finished. The last part was not a question.

Naruto gingerly took the glass vial from Mushi's hands, studying it. It was fragile, so he carefully slipped it into his pocket.

"That poison is one of the strongest and deadliest of the Sunagakure no Sato. Developed by the Poisons Mistress herself, it is near undetectable, even by a ninja. It's perfect for this job... you just have to find the right opportunity," Mushi explained.

"Oh, one more thing, take this too..." he finished, holding up a relatively large package.

"We intercepted this from one of the Moku Avenue Neighborhood Committee; it's a package that one of the members was to deliver to Junko tonight. Your timing is perfect on this one; if you're the one to deliver this, she will surely invite you inside."

Naruto took the wrapped package in his hands, trying to feel out the contents that were inside. It didn't seem like anything special, but Naruto wasn't versed in what this committee even did.

* * *

><p>The Moku Avenue area hit a crossroads near where the Konoha orphanage was, splitting off into two more streets that went both left and right. Sawahata Junko lived near the very end of the street right of the orphanage, near the boundaries of the village itself.<p>

The house was fairly run-down, even by Moku Avenue standards, but at the very least it looked habitable. It was in one of the few areas that didn't seem to have any street lights, so the whole place was shrouded in darkness.

Naruto clutched the package to his chest with one hand, using his free one to knock on the door firmly. As he was shifting the package back into his hands, the door creaked open ever so slightly, and a wrinkled eye stared out at him.

"Who's there?" a ragged old woman's voice asked.

"Um, I'm not Naruto, I've got a package for you..." he said carefully, holding up the package in question to show it to the old woman. The eye behind the door narrowed, and the door shut for a moment before flinging open.

"So, Ringo sent a kid to deliver that to me?" the old woman asked, a friendly demeanor in her voice rather than abrupt suspicion. Naruto froze for a second; Ringo was on this committee? He was the one whom the Byakukawa Clan intercepted?

That couldn't be; Ringo was a former Jounin, and the Byakukawa Clan were Genin at best. He must've sent someone to do it, maybe an employee at the bar.

Still, this would be a hard job. Now that he had met the old woman in person, he didn't think he'd be able to _poison_ her.

She looked to be around sixty to sixty-five or so, and she was dressed in a plaid turtleneck sweater. Her hair was almost completely grey, and it was relatively short, pulled into a small ponytail. Her face had been quite affected by age, but she had the look of a kindly grandmother with those glasses perched on her eyes. Despite that, she seemed tough, being a former ninja and all, and her eyes had the observant qualities of a ninja.

"Are you Sawahata Junko?" Naruto asked, shaking the package in his hands.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing? Junko would be my name, and who are you, young man?" she asked kindly.

"Um, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Sawahata-san..." he said, trying to put on the politeness that he rarely gave to anyone. Junko chuckled at his childish politeness, before gesturing to the inside of her house.

"Please, come in. I'll put on a bit of tea; we can talk all about this inside..." she said.

As Naruto stepped inside the house, he noticed that the exterior was not indicative of what was on the inside. As a matter of fact, the inside of the run-down house was actually quite nice and well-kept.

Naruto took a seat on the leather couch that Junko had offered to him, while the old woman left Naruto alone in the living room to go into the kitchen. He placed the package on the coffee table in front of him, looking around the living room.

Besides the floral wallpaper, there were many, many pictures upon the wall, displaying the various events that Junko had apparently lived through and the many things she had done throughout her life. Some of them were of happy occasions, and others from... not so happy occasions.

He was looking at a picture from when she was still a young woman, and a ninja of Konoha, when the aging woman came back into the living, carrying with her a tray containing a teapot and a few cups. She noticed the boy staring at the picture.

"That picture was from the time of the First Great Shinobi World War. It's at a funeral for a very dear friend of mine, who unfortunately passed away during the war..." she said solemnly, pouring Naruto a cup of tea and handing it to him.

Naruto was silent. She poured herself a cup and continued.

"It's strange; you'd think that after a while we'd just get it. But, no matter how much we fight... and no matter how much people die, there always seems to be more wars. The First Great Shinobi World War was under fifty years ago, and since then we have had two more of them, all devastating. Don't you think that's a shame?" she asked rhetorically.

Naruto took a sip, and he almost retracted his hand underneath sleeve, where he had switched the vial to when he had come in. The old woman's cup was sitting out in the open, but as she turned back to look at him, he halted.

"I think there's something about the ninja profession just brings out the worst in us. It seems like I can't even go a single day without hearing about some horrible thing that a ninja did while on a mission. It's heartbreaking..."

Naruto was only half-listening before, but this conversation had struck something within him. He had never really heard about this point-of-view; usually a ninja was a position to be held with pride, or at least the village of Konoha tried to pass it off that way.

Was he _really _going to poison this old woman?

"Konoha likes to dress up the ninja profession, but it's really just the same here as it is elsewhere. The fact that a good portion of the village is in such a sorry state is a testament to that," she finished, while she seemed to stop herself before going into another rant.

"Oh, listen to me ramble on! You're not here to learn about my opinions on the ninja profession, are you young man? You're here to deliver this package for me, and you're very sweet to do it for me!"

"_Sure, make me feel even more guilty..._" he thought, taking another sip of his tea.

"Now, I don't know whether or not Ringo has told you about what this package is for, but I was planning on sitting down with him or whoever he sent and discuss what I plan to do with this money... after I know how much you've raised, that is! Hopefully, you'll be able to keep up with me, but you seem like an intelligent young man, so I don't think I have to worry about that!" she tinkled to herself.

"_Wait, there's money in here?! Mushi couldn't have known about that, or else he wouldn't have given it to me!"_

Hell, if _he_ himself had known about the contents, he could've paid off the rest of the debt right then and there.

_"_Now-" Junko was cut off as a loud buzzer came from in the kitchen, and she jumped from her seat the moment it happened.

"Excuse me for a second, Naruto-kun, but I'll be back in just a second. I forgot that I left something in the oven," she said, allowing Naruto a very convenient opportunity to do the dirty deed. Her cup of tea lay open right there on the table, the opaque liquid staring right back up at Naruto.

He withdrew the vial of poison from his sleeve, staring at it blankly. One drop of this in that tea and she would be dead as a doornail within minutes. She'd be unable to detect it, and he could fulfill his "debt" to the Byakukawa Clan.

All he had to do was put it in.

With trembling hands, he unscrewed the lid from the vial of deadly poison, and just looking at it gave him the chills. He reached forward, holding it directly above Junko's cup of tea.

One more turn to the left, and his deed would be done.

One. More. Turn.

His hands quivered, and Naruto found that he couldn't tilt the poison into Junko's drink. He couldn't kill this kindly old woman over his selfish desires, even if the Byakukawa Clan would murder him later. He couldn't do it.

Slowly, he retracted the vial of poison and screwed the lid over it once again, putting it into his pocket. He didn't really care about what happened to it now.

"Sorry about that, Naruto-kun. I forgot that I put that darn roast in the oven; I was planning on having dinner tonight with the committee to commemorate this occasion, but that's not until later. Now, let's see that package you brought me..." she said, undoing the wrappings on the box and opening the lid.

Inside were a fair number of bills, quite a good amount of Ryou, but nowhere near the amounts Naruto had seen on his thieving excursions. Still, this money had to be important.

"What is this money going to be used for?" Naruto asked. His curiosity was getting the better of him, but he was still a little shaken that he had almost killed this old woman.

"Hmm, you don't know, after all?" Junko asked quizzically. Naruto shook his head.

"Well, you probably know that the Moku Avenue Committee is sort of like a neighborhood watch association, but it's also dedicated to cleaning up this neighbor and working to improve life for the people here on Moku Avenue. Over the past month, we've been trying to raise as much as we can in order to improve conditions here, and this little bit is going to go a long way..." she said fondly, looking at the money.

"And what better way to start than by improving the worst aspect of the entire village, something that every single villager is able to look at and feel nothing but _shame. _The orphanage..." Junko said.

Naruto felt a stone drop into his stomach. Thank god he didn't poison this woman.

"Why is it that clans like the Hyuuga are able to live in absolute excess, while the orphanage of the village is in absolute squalor. Anyone who's been to the orphanage can see that they're understaffed and under-supplied, and I don't think there's enough food to go around for them. This money will go one step farther to helping them..."

Naruto felt himself clutch the fabric of the chair he was sitting in reflexively, but the thoughts of what would happen when he got back to the hideout haunted him.

He supposed this sort of help would've been nice while he was still there at the orphanage, but when it came down to it, that didn't matter. Everyone there was going to get more help starting now, and that made him at least a little happy.

"Sawahata-san, I have to go now..." he said abruptly, standing in his seat.

"Oh, don't you at least want to finish your tea?" she called after him, but Naruto didn't hear her, as he was already bolting out the door. He couldn't stomach being there any longer, especially with the thought of what he was about to do.

He rushed out into the street, being courteous enough to close the door behind him in hurry. He took the vial of poison out of his pocket and threw it off to the side, where it shattered against the brick wall of a building. He wouldn't need that anymore, and he didn't want to be holding onto it anyway.

Whatever the case, he wasn't going to go back to the Byakukawa Clan hideout now. He had avoided telling anyone about his relationship with them now, but things had gotten far too severe. He needed to tell someone about it, someone who would know how to handle the likes of a Konoha gang.

He passed the orphanage and rounded the corner, making a beeline for Ringo's Bar. If anyone would know what to do about them, it would be the grizzled former Jounin who lived here.

However, as he rounded the corner, he saw the last person that he had wanted to see at that moment. Mushi, the leader of the Byakukawa Clan, had been waiting for him as he rounded the corner, apparently to get the results on his little mission.

Naruto stopped in his tracks, backing up so as to put a little distance between himself and Mushi. He hadn't brought the whole Byakukawa Clan with him, but instead just one lackey. For what reason, Naruto didn't know.

"Hey, hey, Naruto, calm down. It's just me..." Mushi said, pretending to be friendly.

"What are you doing here, Mushi?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd meet you out here instead of back at the hideout. Considering you're coming back at all, that means that you're done with the assignment I've given you."

"So, is there anything you'd like to tell me about the results of this mission?" Mushi asked eagerly. Naruto himself didn't say anything for a moment, but it was do-or-die time.

He had had enough of taking this gang's shit, and Mushi didn't have his little groupies to back him up here.

"Yeah, go fuck yourself..."

* * *

><p>And another one bites the dust.<p>

This one might be my favorite chapter from this one so far. Quality-wise, I think there are probably a couple that are technically written better, but I think this one advances the story more than any other chapter so far.

See ya,

**_Alban55_**


	7. Gang War

**Ppsh**: Actually, that isn't the case. There are eight members of the Byakukawa Clan, and three of them are ninjas, even if they are Genin-level at this point in time. Mushi is one of them.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Gang War<p>

The street was silent after that, but Naruto didn't regret anything he had said to them. He was tired of being in the servitude of these assholes; he was going to make sure that he went out with no regrets.

Mushi was standing there, a sneer on his face, while his little groupie had his jaw dropped, as if Naruto wouldn't dare talk back to the leader of the Byakukawa Clan in such a way.

"_What_ did you say?" Mushi said dangerously.

"I said go fuck yourself! I'm tired of doing everything for you guys; I didn't kill the old woman either!" Naruto said defiantly. It was probably the stupidest thing he had ever said in his life.

"Naruto! Do you have any idea who you're talking to like that?" Mushi snarled. "I am the one who took you in when you were helpless! I am the reason you are alive today! I am the leader of the Byakukawa Clan, the gang that will control this entire area! You WILL listen to me!"

"NO!"

Naruto reached for his pockets. Whenever he came to Moku Avenue, he would always carry a few kunai and shuriken on him at all times, just in case situations like this occurred. He never actually realized that it would come to pay off one day.

He took out several shuriken, holding them between the gaps in his fingers.

"Come and get me. I won't listen to you anymore!" he shouted. Mushi and his groupie looked at each other, before nodding.

"It looks like we'll have to show you who's the boss around here..." Mushi mentioned.

Naruto looked back and forth between the two of them. The gang member that Mushi had brought with him wasn't a ninja, but Mushi was. A Genin, no less, but he was still probably the strongest one among the group.

"Try me!" Naruto shouted. He flicked one shuriken towards the two teenagers. The groupie dodged it clumsily, but Mushi dodged it easily, using his basic footwork to avoid the attack and rush Naruto.

He pulled out his own kunai and held it like he was going to slice with it. Naruto released another shuriken, knocking the kunai out of his hands, but Mushi was expecting. After recovering from the recoil, Mushi stuck a fist in Naruto's gut, knocking the wind out of him.

Mushi followed up the attack with a kick to the face, knocking Naruto back into a pile of trash near the alleyway. The groupie that Mushi had brought with him clapped and guffawed, going over to the garbage pile and hoisting Naruto out of it by the arm.

"I've got him, Mushi! Let him have it!" he shouted to his leader, while taking Naruto's other arm and holding him up. The seven-year old tried to force himself free, but it was no use.

"Stupid kid. He could've been free if he had just killed that old woman, but whatever. We'll just have to assert who he's in debt to, now won't we?" Mushi said, clenching his fists together.

While the other gang member held him, he unleashed a flurry of punches on the battered Naruto, hitting his face and his torso multiple times, until he was positive that Naruto wouldn't show him any more lip.

"Stupid kid... stupid, stupid, stupid kid! Have you learned now?!" Mushi taunted. All of a sudden, the other gang member screamed in pain as his fingers were cut to ribbons.

Naruto had slipped a kunai into his hand while he was captured, and used it efficiently to free himself from the other gang member's grasp. He cried in pain, clutching his bloody fingers while glaring at Naruto.

"Shit! My fingers! You fucking kid!" he shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, I got this. Head back to the hideout and get some first-aid. I can handle it from it..." Mushi said dismissively, as the much bigger teenager ran off in pain.

Naruto brushed the dirt off himself and got to his feet. It was now a one-on-one battle.

"Why did I even bother bringing him in the first place? He's not a ninja, and it's not like I even need back-up if I'm just going to be handling you. Now, are you ready to kill that woman, or am I going to have to drag you back to the clan hideout?" Mushi threatened.

Naruto put his last few shuriken away.

"No way!"

"What are you gonna do then, Naruto?"

Mushi ran up to him; he thought about drawing a kunai from his own pouch, but decided against it as he tried to punch Naruto once again. However, once he struck Naruto, there was a puff of smoke and in Naruto's place, a sack of garbage appeared and burst open, spewing stinky garbage all over Mushi.

"GRRRRRR, you cheeky kid!"

This made no sense. He had only seen Naruto perform the Henge no Jutsu, and he knew for a fact that the academy wasn't teaching jutsus at that level in the first year.

"You shit, where did you learn the Kawarimi?!" he asked.

Meanwhile, Naruto was huddled behind the pile of trash that he had fallen into earlier. In truth, he had been practicing the Kawarimi for quite some time now, and he had just gotten the hang of it recently.

He needed to relax though, and get out there again. However, his eyes snapped open when he heard a very familiar voice call out to Mushi.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?! Leave him alone!"

"Hyou!" Naruto whispered to himself. The voice was coming from the roof of the nearest house, and from his vantage point he could clearly see his friend standing there overlooking Mushi.

"_Idiot! You shouldn't have come for me!"_

Naruto's fear were confirmed true as Mushi directed his attention at the boy on the roof.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked dangerously.

"That's my line! Why are you picking on Naruto?" Hyou said, pointing an accusatory finger at Mushi. Mushi narrowed his eyes at the apparent punk kid, before he closed them slowly.

"Kid, you shouldn't interfere in shit that's not your business. You'll live longer..."

"This _is_ my business! Stop hurting my friend!" Hyou cried back. Before Mushi could even respond to him, Naruto pushed the bags of garbage out of his way and walked painfully out of the alley.

"Hyou, what are you doing here?!" Naruto shouted up to his friend, who swung down the drainpipe and onto the street beside Naruto. He seemed oddly confident.

"Saw you coming out of that house a little earlier when you got attacked by this guy. Want some help?"

Naruto looked at him like he was insane. Trying to fight Mushi at his skill level _was_ insane, since he had basically no formal or even informal ninja training, not even from him yet.

But he could use all the help he could get, and it wasn't like Hyou would run away even if he told him to. So while he wasn't happy about accepting help from Hyou, it looked like the best chance for the both of them.

"Alright then, I'll teach you how to fight then. Mushi is a ninja, a Genin yes, but a ninja too. Neither of us are able to beat him in a fight, so we have to work together to beat him. Just find a way to distract him for now."

"Got it..."

"What are you brats talking about over there? You guys should've just run away while you had the chance. Though, it's not like I'm going to let you now..." Mushi commented.

He put his hands together, and Naruto's eyes opened wider and he tense completely. Hyou however, had no idea what was going on.

"Get out of the way, Hyou! He's gonna use a jutsu!" Naruto shouted, pushing Hyou out of the way. Mushi smiled as he ran through seals, about to use one of the few jutsu he knew.

"Kirigakure no jutsu..."

A classic from Kirigakure had made it's way into Konoha, and now apparently even Konoha genin could perform the jutsu. Obviously, they couldn't use it as effectively as someone who had actually grown up inside the mist.

Naruto tensed even further, while Hyou was confused as to what was going on. For some reason, he felt at ease within the mist, akin to the odd feeling of coming home.

Naruto knew that they weren't safe however, and he proved this when he blocked a kunai that flew straight at him from somewhere in the mist. He deflected another one aimed at Hyou.

"Where?!" Naruto asked outloud. He swiveled in place when he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye directly behind Hyou, clearly bent on attacking him.

Naruto ran forward as fast as his short legs would carry him, which was actually fairly fast when enhanced by his "special" host. He threw a punch and impacted something solid, which made a grunt. A couple of seconds later, and Naruto realized that he had punched Mushi in the stomach.

Hyou noticed it for the first time as well.

Using his free arm, Naruto grabbed a kunai and tossed it backwards toward Hyou, who with a little bit of fumbling managed to catch it by its handle. He stood there confused.

"Throw it!" Naruto yelled simply.

Hyou didn't need to be told twice. He alligator armed the kunai at Mushi, aiming high as to be sure he wouldn't hit Naruto. The kunai sailed forward and missed Mushi by nearly two feet to the right, falling to the ground far away.

Naruto almost screamed in frustration.

Mushi laughed.

"If that's the best that kid can do, having him here is more of a liability than a help!" he explained, breaking Naruto's hold and whaling on him back with a much stronger punch.

Naruto flew back but vaulted to his feet immediately, holding out three shuriken. Hyou took them after a quick gesture, and Naruto wiped blood away from his mouth.

"Listen, if he attacks you, throw them!" Naruto said. He meant it, but it was clear at this point that Hyou had no practice with throwing weapons. He wondered if it was a smart idea giving him those.

"Mushi!" a new voice shouted.

"AH, what now?" Mushi cried out, as he dispersed the Kirigakure no Jutsu. Another member of the Byakukawa Clan, this one different than the one who was injured by Naruto, was running up to Mushi.

"It's terrible! Our hideout has been discovered!"

Those words made Mushi stop in his tracks as he regarded the gang member that was walking up to him. He seemed out of breath and even a little afraid.

"By who?!"

The other gang member looked around worriedly.

"He saw me run away... I think he's followed us..."

"So who the hell discovered us?!"

"It was the bartender a few doors down from us. That old bitch apparently tipped him to our existence, and the messenger he sent to deliver the package got a glimpse of where we returned to. He confronted us just a few minutes ago, and we all scattered. We can't remain in this village for much longer! We need to get out of here now, before he calls the ANBU!"

Mushi grit his teeth, and looked at the two boys that were clearly not going to win this fight.

"Leave them alone! We don't have time to deal with them right now. We can come back for the demon kid in a few years once we get an audience with the big names."

"Yeah, it looks like we started too big with setting our sights on Konoha. We need to relocate to our backup headquarters and start with smaller game out in the Hi no Kuni."

There was a loud crash somewhere, followed by what seemed to be the use of a jutsu.

"Let's go. Get out of the village before we're located!" Mushi shouted, as he and the other gang member turned tail and ran away from Moku Avenue into the night...

"We'll be back eventually, Naruto! Don't think you're safe!" Mushi called back, as he ran away from Konoha. Hyou and Naruto stared back, before Naruto finally gave into exhaustion and he collapsed into the dirt.

Hyou put a hand on his shoulder, and the bleary Naruto looked at him.

"Naruto, who were those guys?"

* * *

><p>"What?!"<p>

Naruto was huddled back in Hyou's gang's headquarters underneath the restaurant, getting tended to with the few medical supplies that the group could scrounge up.

"They call themselves the Byakukawa Clan, and they're a rising gang over in this side of the village..." The five other kids all looked at each other, and one of them, a lanky eight-year old named Ren spoke up.

"Kind of like us, right?" he said.

"Except older, and there are a few ninja in the group. When I left the orphanage, they were the ones that found me huddled in the corner of the alley. They took me in, and used that as an excuse that I was under their debt. Ever since, they've been making me work off that debt underneath their servitude. But I made a deal with Mushi a little while ago. If I could get two million ryou for them, then I get be free. But, the due date came and I still didn't have enough money, so..."

Naruto curled his knees into his body and put his head into his arms. He left out the part where he was supposed to kill the old woman, but all around he still seemed pretty miserable.

"Couldn't you have just told the Hokage? Or the ANBU? Or even your teachers at the academy?" the same boy asked. Naruto regarded him for a moment, but shook his head forlornly.

"No, nothing would change. The Hokage has to abide by the wishes of the daimyo and the council, so he can't help me. As for the rest of them, they don't care. They never care. All they care about are the clan heads, the rich people who make up the village. The rest of the village could live like me and it wouldn't matter as long as the clans are satisfied."

"That's why I decided if I wanted to make it in this world, I would have to do it with my own power, and if it comes down to it, change it with my own power. That's why I'm going to become a ninja, and why I'm going to teach you guys."

The other members were looking on him in a new light. A couple of them looked at him in pity, but all of their gazes held acceptance for their newest member.

"So, what do we do now?" Hyou asked. "The Byakukawa Clan has left the village and won't bother you, but how can we become ninjas? Even if you teach us, the village apparently only likes the clans..."

Naruto shook his head.

"I'm still thinking about what Mushi said when we fought him, Hyou. I get the feeling that I'm not entirely free from them. What they said is bugging me..."

"_We can come back for the demon kid in a few years once we get an audience with the big names..."_

_"We'll be back eventually, Naruto! Don't think you're_ safe!"

The rest of the kids looked at each other.

"Well, we can worry about them later. What we really need to know is what we're going to do now..." Hyou said. Naruto nodded.

"I'll find a way to make you guys ninjas, or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto! We need to get out of this place though... I know a perfect place to train you guys. Meet me here tomorrow morning and I'll show you my secret training ground!"

The other kids looked at each other one last time, before they smiled and saluted Naruto. Naruto smiled a happy smile for what seemed like the first time today, and put his hand in the middle.

"We'll show this village!" he said, as the other kids put their own hands on top of his.

Little did they know, that in the future, they would in fact show this village.

* * *

><p>Naruto returned home that night in a chipper mood. He had finally become free of the Byakukawa Clan, he felt like he had made some new friends, and he felt like not even the world could stop him.<p>

He was going to be a ninja, and a damn good one at that.

However, his smile faded when he noticed the shape his apartment complex was in. It didn't look like it had gotten broken into, but the windows were boarded up and it seemed eerily desolate when considering how many people lived there.

A leaf crunched underneath his foot, and he got a sinking feeling in his gut. An apparent denizen of the apartment was walking down the stairs carrying a suitcase, a grim look on his face.

Naruto bit his lip and ran up the stairs to his own apartment. As he crossed down the hallway, he noticed several leaves of paper taped to each door. They looked like notices...

There was even one on his own door...

He snatched up the leaflet forcefully, taking a look over what it said.

"Attention: the council of the village of Konoha and the country of Hi no Kuni, sanctioned by the daimyo himself, has enacted eminent domain on this property and this lot. This building has been foreclosed. Any and all stipends, received from the Hokage or otherwise, will be terminated in thirty days time. No compensation shall be received in the case of any losses. We are sorry..."

Naruto didn't understand many of the words that were on the flier, but he did glean one particular bit of information from the paper.

He was apparently homeless now...

There were more words on the document though, and the last paragraph made Naruto cringe in shock.

"Due to their generous donations and continued services to the village as well as their remarkable production of excellent ninjas, this building is scheduled to be converted into a private bathhouse for use only by the members of the Hyuuga Clan..."

* * *

><p>Okay, another chapter of this is done. It might be the shortest one in the story thus far, but this is a very important chapter for one reason. This was the final chapter of the first arc, as well as the final chapter where Naruto is this age.<p>

Meaning, there will be a time-skip next chapter. Look forward to it.

**Translations and Other Features**

Kirigakure no jutsu: Hidden Mist Technique

Kawarimi: Substitution

Bye,

**_Alban55_**


	8. A Flawed Ninja Way

Chapter 8: A Flawed Ninja Way

_A few years later..._

Uzumaki Naruto was twelve years old.

Uzumaki Naruto was going to graduate soon, and become a Genin ninja of Konoha.

Uzumaki Naruto had been homeless for almost five years. During those five years, he had shifted from living on the streets, but recently he had taken to living back in Ringo's bar, or living in the cellar where their gang met up.

He was going to graduate tomorrow. He had practiced, and practiced, and practiced, but he finally had everything he needed to be able to graduate. His skills were high enough, and he knew the correct jutsus. The only problem was really his written scores.

His friends were happy for him though, and they were going to meet up at Training Ground 4 for "celebratory training", though that was just Hyou's way to get everyone to try a little bit harder.

It really was a nice day, perfect for training. Still, even the nice weather didn't prevent Naruto from receiving a handful of glares as he made his way out of the village and onto the training ground.

After he arrived there, all five of the other members of his group were there, but there were also two unexpected visitors. These two had never trained with them before, so it was a surprise to see them there.

Ringo and Ebi had decided to leave their bar closed for the day so they could come train with the young ninjas-in-training. Naruto was happy to see them; it had been a while up to this point.

Just like five years ago, there were six of them total, including Naruto. They had all grown quite a bit in the past few years, and Naruto was happy to say that all of them had made progress towards becoming a ninja.

Yet, none of them had ever been accepted into the academy, and he remained the only one of the group that has actually received a formal ninja education. Though, as he grew in the academy, so did they.

He knew a total of three jutsu, the Henge, the Kawarimi, and the Bunshin. The Bunshin no Jutsu was a jutsu he had always had trouble with, but after a little fiddling around with the other members of his gang, he was able to get the hang of it.

As far as the others went, he had taught them the Bunshin and the Henge, but they still hadn't learned the Kawarimi. For the last few years, they had worked mostly with weapons and Taijutsu, and Naruto was beginning to think that they were falling behind.

"Yo, Naruto! Glad you could make it!" Ringo said, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously. Ebi, now twenty-four years old, walked up to him and gave him a quick hug. She was still much taller than him.

"Naruto, glad you could make it to the meeting of the ... ..." Hyou said as he walked up to him. Hyou had changed quite a bit in the years that followed. He was way taller than Naruto, and he had grown his brown hair out to frame his face.

"What's the distance to the target?"

The other four seemed to be happy to see him as well, but they had their eyes on Hyou. He was the true leader of the gang, and as such all four of them listened only to him.

Naruto's eyes panned through them.

On the left was Inaho. To be quite honest, Naruto thought Inaho was a bit of a lost case. He was a little bit spacey, and didn't seem to talk much. And his Taijutsu wasn't very good. He lagged behind the rest of them in terms of ability. He was dressed in a dark grey hoodie and board and blue pants, with his hood up concealing part of his face.

Next to Inaho was Sabi, an eleven year old that was even taller than Hyou. The thing that stood out about him was his metallic-blonde hair that was almost white, which was even more outlandish than Naruto's sunny blonde hair. He had an excited grin on his face, and he was bouncing up and down. He was more energetic than anyone Naruto had ever seen, even himself.

Third in line was Shizuku. This twelve year old girl was almost as short as Naruto, and was an apparent pigpen. Her black hair was frizzy and stuck up all over the place. She was dressed in rags and covered in patches of dirt. She wore no shoes, and it was apparent she needed a shower.

Last in line was Nane, a cute girl in Naruto's opinion that was likely the most talented out of the six of them. She was tall, close to the height of Hyou, with long brown hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a plain blue blouse with black capris, and she seemed the most professional and serious out of all of them. She rarely smiled.

He looked around at the group fondly. They had been together for close to five years now, but they still hadn't come up with a name for their little group. They were like a group of friends... but they were like something a little different than that.

"So, Naruto, do you want to explain what's going on today?" Hyou said.

"Well, I have an announcement to make..." he said. The four of them, especially Sabi, seemed to be focused on him and what he had to say. He had helped all of them tremendously over the past few years, and considering most of them came from broken homes, it meant a lot.

"With my graduation tomorrow, I will officially become a Genin of Konoha. At that point, I will be making a Genin's salary, which isn't much, but it should be enough to make my... make _our _living conditions a little bit better. We will be able to train ourselves better if we have a working salary!"

Hyou smiled at him, while the others murmured amongst themselves somewhat excitedly.

"That's awesome, Naruto!" Sabi shouted at him energetically.

"Indeed, this is truly good news..." Nane remarked, in agreement with Sabi.

Naruto smiled at his friends, before a forlorn look came on his face.

"Y'know, it's been almost five years since the apartment complex where I lived became a private bathhouse for the Hyuuga clan... and I've been back to living on the streets. I can't thank Ringo and Ebi-chan enough for what they've done for me..." he said, bowing his head in a rare moment of gratitude.

"They have already have so much on their table, living in that part of town. The last thing they needed was some kid to take care of. And when I came there, all of you came there, so they had their hands full keeping track of all of us enough. We are all grateful for their support..."

"And now, our hard work is finally beginning to pay off. As a Genin of Konoha, I will have certain say in the affairs of the village, even if it's only a little bit. I may be able to convince the Hokage and the clan heads to allow you guys entrance into the academy!"

The children seemed pretty happy, but Ringo and his daughter looked at each other strangely.

"Uh, Naruto, are you sure you want to get involved with _anything_ to do with the clans?" he asked. "You do know that it's because of the Hyuuga Clan that you have been in your situation for the last five years?" the large man asked.

Naruto looked glum.

"Well, I deal with their kids every day, and I'm probably gonna be on a team with some clan kid. I don't think I can just avoid them altogether if I want to be a ninja..."

"Naruto, we understand that you have a bad relationship with the kids in your class, and most of them come from the clans. It's pretty clear that the attitude they take is one that is learned. I don't think this is a good idea..." Nane piped up. The girl was usually the voice of reason amongst their group, when Ringo and Ebi weren't around.

The other kids looked solemn, and even Hyou didn't seem to be smiling.

"Look, I can handle it. Don't worry about my issues with the clans right now, and just focus on your own training. We have a lot to work on today, and I'm determined to get you all to become ninja. Now, Ringo and Ebi here are going to teach you some tricks of the trade, so get anything you can from it, alright?" Naruto pointed out.

The other kids agreed somewhat hesitantly, and the group of wanna-be ninjas began their training for the day.

* * *

><p>Naruto wasn't sure that he should be happy that he passed.<p>

Passed his graduation exam, and then passed the stupid bell test that weeded out close to two-thirds of all Genin "graduates". The deed was done, and he would be earning a Genin's salary with missions, but...

For starters, he barely passed. Years of culmination and bias from the instructors had finally taken their toll, yet he walked out of that room with a Konoha hitai-ate. Never mind that, he learned of the other teams that had passed.

There were seven clan kids out of twenty-seven of those who had graduated. And of the nine Rookie Genin that had passed, seven of them remained after the fact. All the clan kids had passed. He and Sakura were the only ones in the Rookie Nine who were not from a clan.

And that bugged him far more than it should've, especially with the fate of his friends on the line.

He was on a team with Sasuke and Sakura in the so-called "Team 7", half of which he was happy about, but even then it looked like he'd be interacting with the other teams quite a bit.

It was almost like the clan kids were born simply to become ninja, while civilian's kid were never meant to become ninja. Your lot in life was decided by what you were born as.

Even if he got his friends into the academy at this point, it was already very late for them, and even if they graduated, would it mean that they would pass the second test?

It had been a couple of weeks since he had passed the bell test, and ever since then he had been training with his team and doing a variety of D-rank missions.

This team couldn't be more uncooperative.

Granted, he wasn't entirely faultless when it came to that. He did not get along with Sasuke well at all, but he at least tried to get along with Sakura and Kakashi-sensei, but even then the team just looked to be too dysfunctional.

For today, they were set to once again capture the stupid cat Tora. Third time this week it happened, and they were the ones assigned to go get the damn thing every time.

"This is Sasuke, arrived at Point B."

"This is Sakura, arrived at Point C."

There was a pause for about five seconds, where there was a lull in the mission.

"This is Naruto, arrived at Point A."

"You're slow, Naruto!"

"_Yeah, well, maybe if someone actually taught me something, I would be a little quicker on missions..._"

"The target has moved!"

The cat was apparently on the move again, to which the three Genin sped up and ducked behind some trees. This was the fifth time they had tried this formation of "teamwork", and so far they had gotten no results.

"What's the distance to the target?"

It was the same thing every time. They would jump out in some carefully thought out formation and try to corner the target. He would always end up getting scratched. Over some stupid cat it seemed a little much.

"_Oh, fuck this!"_ Naruto thought.

Before Kakashi even ordered the offensive, Naruto jumped out of his hiding place, surprising his two teammates who were still waiting for their sensei's orders.

He sped over to the cat, who noticed him far too late. Tired of the little shit, Naruto gave it a swift quick to the gut, enough to send it back a few feet and disorient it for a few seconds, which was long enough for Naruto to grab it with no small amount of pressure.

"Naruto!" Sakura's voice called out, as the pink-haired kunoichi jumped out of her perch. "What are you doing?!"

"We've been running around all day doing the same thing over a lost cat!"

At this point, Kakashi emerged from the bushes. The look on his face was one of annoyed exasperation. He was about to say something, but the only thing he did was sigh. This wasn't a shining example of teamwork by any means. Naruto just went in there and kicked the cat after losing patience. As a ninja, that was unacceptable, but there would be time to scold the Genin later.

* * *

><p>Back at the Hokage tower, a rotund woman was relentlessly hugging the cat, unaware of the cat's pain and the sandal shaped bruise on the cat's midsection.<p>

The rest of Team 7 wasn't particularly happy about the way they had finished the mission, and Kakashi would have to give Naruto a good scolding later on.

"_That's got to be Fumiko's grandmother, then. She's the daimyo's wife..."_

"Let's see, missions for Team 7..." the Sandaime mulled over, reading a list of missions. "Babysitting Yojyu-sama's boy, grocery shopping in the next town, digging up potatoes..."

"What's with all these stupid missions?" Naruto yelled at the old Hokage. Kakashi sighed, while Sasuke actually tended to agree with him for once. Besides, the missions just seemed to be more menial chores for the wealthy in Konoha.

"Give us a real mission already!" the blonde boy called, before he was slapped over the head by Kakashi.

"It looks like I have to explain to you what missions are..." Sarutobi said.

"Clients come to the village every day to request things from baby-sitting to assassinations. The requests listed are separated into ranks based on their difficulty, and we assign the missions to ninja based on their appropriate abilities..." he paused for a moment.

"If we complete the mission, we receive a fee from the client. Since you all became Genins just recently, D-rank missions are the most appropriate for you..."

"The completion of missions brings revenue into the village. It is an integral part of our livelihood and the foundation of our philosophies for the village of Konoha. You need to be able to take pride in completing your missions, no matter their difficulty."

"_More like it's just the village just doing favors for the elite. What could be better than a bunch of rich old fucks paying ninjas to assassinate their political rivals?" _Naruto thought, as the Hokage lectured him. All the money from the village was definitely so important, considering how many poor people in the village. Yet, Naruto had to wonder how much of that revenue benefited the clans, and his apartment complex being torn down for a hot spring came to mind, and he had no patience for their frivolous crap.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it... The Will of Fire and all that... But, how are we supposed to gain experience if we're doing nothing but babysitting and hunting down cats? I'm not some stupid kid anymore! I can handle it!"

The Sandaime and Kakashi looked bewildered for a second, before a knowing smile was alight on Sarutobi's face. He picked up a scroll of C-rank missions, looking over them.

"Alright... if you're so adamant about this, then maybe I can allow you to attempt a C-rank mission..."

Naruto perked up at that, while Sakura and Kakashi seemed a little surprised that the Hokage would give in so easily. Sasuke seemed to be hiding a sense of excitement.

"Really? What is it we're going to be doing?!" Naruto asked. Sarutobi chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'll let you meet the client in a moment. You're going to be protecting him as he makes his way back to his country," the Hokage explained, as the door opened behind them.

"What's with these kids? They're just a bunch of super brats!"

Naruto blanched as a drunk old man carrying a backpack entered the room, a bottle of sake touching his lips. He leaned against the door in a drunken stupor, pointing at Naruto.

"Especially the stupid-looking short one in the center. Are you really a ninja?" he asked. Naruto knew already that he was talking about him, but that didn't stop him from getting mad at the old man.

"I'll kill you!" he shouted exaggeratedly, jumping up and down while his sensei held him back.

"Don't go killing our client, idiot!"

"I'm Tazuna, the bridge builder. I need your team to provide me with super protection as I make my way back to my country and complete a bridge. This bridge is the hope and future of our country, and there is nothing more important than it..."

Naruto looked at the man funnily, and he noticed the hesitation with which he spoke. He had a bad feeling about this mission, that something was going to go horribly wrong.

* * *

><p>And, we're done here.<p>

No, I haven't forgotten about this story, even if it's not as popular as my other ones. Think of this as a late Christmas present for anyone who happens to read this one. It's a little short, but whatever.

Bye,

_**Alban55**_


	9. Ninja Channels

Here it goes. I've done my take on the Land of Waves arc right here.

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Ninja Channels<p>

"Alright, let's go!"

Naruto shouted those words as the team exited the village of Konoha. He had never been outside the village before, as sad as that was to say, so he was as excited as he could be during the circumstances.

"Hey, am I really going to be safe with this kid?" Tazuna asked Kakashi. The Jounin rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.

"Well, I am a Jounin, so I should be able to protect you from anything that may come up..."

"_I'm really starting to hate this guy..._" Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto simmered in his annoyance for just a moment, before he pointed a finger accusingly at the old man.

"Hey, you old fart! Don't underestimate me! I'm a great ninja of Konoha, and I'll prove it to you while we're on this mission. Then you'll have to recognize me!"

Tazuna looked at Naruto skeptically, taking a swig from his liquor as he did so.

"A great ninja is someone who has gone on many missions and has survived countless battles and learned dozens of techniques, right? I don't think that someone is you..." he mocked.

"_No, a great ninja is someone that is lucky enough to be a part of a clan. Well, according to Konoha at least..._" Naruto thought. He seems more dejected than usual, and Kakashi raised an eyebrow when all Naruto did from that point was growl at Tazuna.

He wanted to talk to the village superiors about letting his friends into the academy, but he had been so preoccupied with missions lately that he never got a chance.

Once he got back, he would talk to the old man about it. Still, the Hokage only had so much power. The clan heads were what he was really worried about, and they had more power when it came to matters of ninja education.

Tazuna huffed at him and continued on ahead, the rest of the group lagging behind him. Sakura seemed to have a boatload of questions for both Tazuna and Kakashi that Naruto wasn't really concerned about. It had something to do with the Nami no Kuni and whether or not it had ninja. Naruto also heard snippets about the culture of other countries.

It was a couple minutes after they passed a puddle when they were attacked. Two masked shinobi emerged from the puddle, using a coordinated combination attack to wrap their bladed chains around Kakashi and seemingly rip him to shreds.

"First one..." they muttered simultaneously.

Team 7 and Tazuna looked on in shock as the Jounin overseeing the entire mission was seemingly killed. Sasuke grit his teeth as he prepared to leap into action. Naruto too got over his alarm and put a hand to his weapons pouch, but he noticed something was off.

"_Wait... they're heading for ME!_" he thought, as the two brothers turned their attention solely on him.

"We'll take one of the Genin. Meizu... grab that one and return to base. Don't kill him; just knock him out and leave him unharmed. I'll kill the bridge builder..." the straight-haired twin said. His brother was silent, before charging Naruto. The one who had spoken rushed for Tazuna, with both Sasuke and Sakura in the way.

Meizu appeared in front of Naruto before the boy could even react. He had retracted his poisonous claws and blades and merely hit him with the metal end of his weapon. Naruto felt the wind get knocked out of his as he was slung over the missing-nin's shoulder and carried off into the woods.

"Naruto!" he heard someone's voice call out, but he couldn't tell who in all the movement and confusion.

"Damn it! Let me go, you piece of-"

He was cut off as he felt another impact, this time in the back of the head. He couldn't help himself; he blacked out. As he lost consciousness, he was carried slung across the ninja's shoulder through an unknown part of the forest.

* * *

><p>He awoke to the salty smell and taste of a sea breeze.<p>

Naruto shook his head lightly as he groggily came to his senses, feeling his vision swim as the blurry shapes around him began to come more into focus. He had been lying on some kind of stone floor, and he realized he was in an unknown location. He should've been with his team and his sensei, and he wouldn't be at a place with the taste of sea breeze, at least not yet.

When he moved his hands, he heard something clatter. As his vision returned to normal, metal bars were the first thing he saw. There was a set of iron shackles chaffing his wrist, and he could see that he chained to the walls to prevent usage of his hands.

His captors didn't need him forming seals, after all.

There was a tiny window behind him, and when he craned his neck to see, he saw a canopy of trees surrounded by a thick mist that further hid the building he was in from view.

So, he was on the top floor of some building, in a misty and dark forest? He didn't know any places like that.

"What the hell?!" Naruto screamed, loud enough to rustle some birds from a nearby tree out the window. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest move, because he could hear noises and footsteps downstairs.

"_Shit..._" Naruto thought. He was a prisoner, so whoever was downstairs probably weren't ready to kill him yet, but he had just alerted the entire building that he was now awake.

He looked out the door. Besides his cell, the room was small, with nothing but a table and chair in the middle with an oil lamp on top of it, and a door leading to a set of stairs that led down to the main building.

He snapped to attention as the noises from downstairs seem to carry closer, and he could make out the unmistakeable thumping of someone walking up the stairs. The door flung open forcefully, nearly flying off its hinges, before the ninja that had kidnapped him earlier stepped into the room.

Even when they weren't in combat, he seemed to wear his mask and gear at all times. It gave him a certain intimidation factor that Naruto hated to admit as the wild man focused his beady eyes on Naruto.

"So, you're finally awake..." the nuke-nin known as Meizu stated. His voice was distorted slightly by his mask.

"Who the fuck are you?! Why the hell have you taken me here?!" Naruto screamed, rattling the chains that he was attached to. Meizu only chuckled, a deep throaty laugh that put Naruto even further on edge.

"You'll know soon enough. I only came up here to see that you wouldn't try any funny business, but a very special person is going to arrive here soon and make sure you're up to his standards..." the Chuunin-level ninja hissed.

Naruto droned out the rest of what the man said, watching him carefully with half-lidded eyes. His capture had strangely reminded him of his days working for the Byakukawa Clan, and he had no intention of reliving that nightmare. As soon as he left, he would find a way out.

"Your Genin team may or may not be looking for you, but our group has our own mission to take care of: assassinating that bridge builder. Though, if my brother is still there, everyone is surely dead by now..." he rattled.

"You'll see! Kakashi-sensei will get here and beat you all up!" Naruto snarled at the masked Chuunin. The wild man seemed slightly angry for a second, before he chuckled his garbled laugh.

"I'd be careful if I were you, kid. You've got a very _special_ guest coming to see you in a few days, so unfortunately, I have to leave you in tip-top condition. Mouth-off again, and I may _forget_ that rule..."

If looks could kill, Naruto's glare would've left Meizu dead on the floor in a heartbeat. However, he had survived on the street with the Byakukawa Clan to know when to shut his mouth.

"Just stay in there and be quiet! We'll bring your meals at sunset, and you _will_ eat! We need you completely healthy for your special visit. Gatou-san wouldn't appreciate underfed merchandise!"

Meizu formed a handseal directly after that, disappearing in a light stream of water. Naruto was now alone in the room once again, chained to the wall and unable to use any ninja techniques to escape.

"_Merchandise? What was that all about? I've got a bad feeling about this..._"

Naruto sat alone in the room, the only light coming from the dimly lit forest outside. He had been mulling over what the ninja from earlier had set to him. They apparently needed him alive for whatever reason, but why was he considered merchandise?

After a couple more hours of freaking out and struggling, Naruto had tired himself out. After that, he had settled into a fairly basic routine as far as his imprisonment went. He ate the meals they gave him. After all, there was no reason to poison him. If they wanted him dead, he was defenseless, and could've stuck a kunai in his skull without needing to go through the trouble of poisoning him.

It went on like this for a few days, with Meizu only coming up to bring him his one meal per day. During his last visit, he had explained his special guest would be arriving tomorrow afternoon. This "Gatou", or whatever his name was.

His team hadn't found him. Whether they were still looking for him or had continued on with the mission was unknown. He just assumed that he would have to find a way to escape on his own. The only problem was, how?

It was dusk now, and he had been in this cell for four days. He had just finished up his meal, and was determined not to crack while he mulled over his limited escape options. There were a lot of noises from the complex downstairs. From what he could hear, someone sounded very happy about something.

His one saving grace came to him that night.

The usual thumping of someone walking up the stairs alerted him to another's presence, but he could tell right away from the lighter footfalls that it was not Meizu walking up the stairs. Nor was it his "special guest".

"Are you awake?" a soft, almost feminine voice asked. Naruto was taken aback by the lack of a rough tone, as a masked figure wearing a robe entered the small room in the tower.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He couldn't tell if this person was male or female, but from the way the body looked, they didn't seem that much older than Naruto himself. This couldn't be the "special guest" that was supposed to meet him, could it?

"Don't tell me _you__'re _the special guest that the masked idiot told me about?" Naruto said. The masked... boy? The masked boy tilted his head down at Naruto; the captive Konoha Genin couldn't tell what he was thinking underneath that blank mask.

"No... I'm not. Tell me, Naruto-kun, do you understand the reason why you were taken here?" the masked boy asked, and Naruto was driven even further on edge. The masked boy knew his name.

"How do you know my name?"

"It appears that you do not..." the masked boy said sullenly. "Before we go any further, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Haku, nuke-nin of Kirigakure no Sato and weapon of Zabuza-san. I serve Zabuza-san and work alongside him as a mercenary along with the Demon Brothers that you have no doubt met..."

"Zabuza-san? Demon Brothers?" Naruto pondered outloud. Whatever the case, he seemed to have been taken to an encampment of Kiri nin. Well, _former_ Kiri nin at least. That still didn't explain what they wanted with him.

"Why are you telling me this? It seems your comrades get off to keeping me in the dark as much as possible?" Naruto continued. Haku's shoulders slumped slightly.

"There are... many things I am not fond of in my line of work. Zabuza-san has always told me that I am too kind to be a true ninja, and in a way, I suppose he is right. What's happening to you is what brings me the most shame out of all our jobs, yet if it is to fulfill the dreams of someone I can call precious to me, then I must kill my heart. However, I have always felt that they... have the right to know," Haku trailed off.

"What's the situation?" Naruto asked dangerously, paying keen attention to the masked nin outside his cell. Haku put a hand to his face, slowly removing the oi-nin mask. His face was just as feminine as his voice, and he heaved a heavy sigh.

"Human trafficking and the slave trade..." Haku said softly, but no less bluntly.

"Wha?" Naruto replied, eyes widening in shock and a little fear. Did that mean that he was...?

Haku crossed his arms.

"It is exactly as I said. You are the latest merchandise for use in the Elemental Countries Slave Trade. That's why you have been captured and kept alive in this cell. You will be held until you are sold to an acceptable suitor..."

Naruto's mind was reeling. He had never heard anything about this, and he didn't think he would be captured and sold as a slave on his very first serious mission. Since when was there a "slave trade" in the Elemental Countries?

"What?! Hey! Hey! Hey! I can't spend the rest of my life as a slave! No way am I gonna get sold! I can't believe something like this is even allowed! This can't be allowed, right?"

"Normally, it isn't. At least, there is a complicated history involving the legality of this admittedly repulsive business. It isn't surprised that you don't know. For citizens of those countries where slavery is legal, it is mostly kept under wraps..." Haku paused for a moment, giving Naruto time to digest the information he was received. No doubt it was a heavy situation.

"First of all, you should know that there is black market slave trade within every country, from the Five Great Shinobi Countries to smaller nations where ninja do not exist. However, these underground smuggling rings are bands of thugs or small groups of Genin-level shinobi. Together, they are a relatively small threat. The other, much more economically powerful type of slave trade are the government funded rings..."

Haku saw the look of dejection on the boy's face as he explained it to him. The mist-nin couldn't blame him.

"Of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Iwa, Kumo, and Suna have outlawed slavery and human trafficking. Of course, there are some smaller countries with ninja villages that promote a government funded slave trade. Kusa and the newly formed Otogakure no Sato come to mind, though they can't compare to the slave trading nations within the five most powerful nations. To be more specific, Konoha and the Hi no Kuni as well as Kiri and the Mizu no Kuni have not outlawed the trade for special groups and corporations within each nation."

Naruto let the words sink in, and he cast his head down. This was all so much to take, especially when he learned that his home country engaged in the practice. He was under the impression that his home village was a relatively peaceful one. He supposed he knew that it held its dark secrets, from firsthand experience.

"Certain "traders" have access to special "channels" that they work through with permission from their respective governments. To put things in perspective, there is a "cycle" if you will, with mutual benefits to all parties involved. Slave trading is a very lucrative business to both of these governments, and each party provides and receives something in this business model. The traders give a large cut of their profits to the daimyo of Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni. The daimyo use part of the cut to fund the training and equipment of their patron ninja village. The traders are granted certain immunities to the law and protection from the ninja villages, and every side fulfills their end of the bargain..."

"But... but... that still doesn't explain why I've never heard of it!" Naruto boldly shouted.

"Of course... this is mostly a covert operation even if the legality of the trade isn't in question. The other countries look down on these practices, so Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni are mostly subtle in their dealings, in order to prevent war. As a rule of thumb, the Five Great Shinobi Countries have a tentative agreement regarding the slave trade to avoid the hypothetical war, as long as a rival country does not abduct citizens from their own country."

Naruto seemed to think something was off with that last statement. He was a citizen of Konoha and had been captured by Kiri-nin, had he not?

"Most of the trader's business comes from neighboring "feeder countries" that have no chance to fight back against a greater power. Slaves are typically sold to very wealthy nobles or shipped out of the country, so it is possible to live within Konoha or Kiri and not know of their existence. I see the look of confusion on your face. You are in fact a citizen of Konoha, a member of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Yet, you are about to be traded. Well, it's not that simple..."

Haku paused again.

"Ninja slaves have become more and more of a demand these past few years. They are a hot commodity on the market right now, especially ninja from the Five Great Shinobi Countries. However, the government funded traders from Konoha and Kiri do not wish to spark a war, so they subtly capture low-level ninja such as yourself, instead of renowned Jounin. It may seem like a bold move, but they can get away with this for one particular reason. The other countries do not wish to start a war over the lives of a few Genin, so sometimes Genin are taken by rival ninja to be traded. Mizu no Kuni is much more unsubtle in dealing with slaves, but I've never heard of an incident where they've taken citizens of their own nation to be sold..."

Naruto looked miserable at this point.

"Hi no Kuni is a bit more crass with the lives of its own citizens. It's not unheard of for citizens of their own nation to be captured, if they are "undesirable" enough."

"I... still can't believe it!" Naruto said, glaring up at Haku. "Slavery... trading human lives away! It all sounds so... wrong. And yet, it's totally legal to do it in my own home country! Why haven't they followed the other countries and made it illegal yet!"

Haku still looked sorrowful.

"You worry for others... you seem to have an admirable. Unfortunately, Naruto-kun, your problem lies even deeper. Zabuza-san and I are being employed by a man named Gatou. He is one of the richest men in the world, and runs a shipping magistrate on the outside. However, he is one of the main slave brokers under the name of the Mizu no Kuni. With the backing of the Mizu no Kuni, he is allowed special "immunities", just like I said earlier. And you're about to make him even more powerful."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, his head snapping to attention.

"You may have heard celebration coming from downstairs earlier, correct? When the Demon Brothers attacked you, they were under the impression that they were capturing a normal Konoha Genin. However, the slave trading community knows all about you, Naruto-kun. You're mentioned in all the bingo books, as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko. Jinchuuriki are an extremely rare and expensive merchandise, due to their low numbers and often high strength. However, several daimyos look to own one as a "special status" symbol of sorts. Since they have captured you, the Demon Brothers have figured out what you are: a Jinchuuriki, and an inexperienced one at that..."

Naruto looked confused.

"Pardon?"

"Surely you must realize that a Jinchuuriki such as yourself would be highly coveted..." Haku responded back, letting his own confusion leak into his feminine voice.

"What's a Jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked dumbly. Haku said nothing, and the two of them sat in the awkward silence longer, dragging out the tension that had been created.

"You mean... you don't even know what you are?"

"So... what's so special about being me?!" Naruto asked, slightly perturbed. He didn't know what a Jinchuuriki was, but he definitely knew what the Kyuubi no Youko was, and Haku had mentioned him before. So, apparently he was the _something_ of the Kyuubi.

"I see. I don't know why the village of Konoha has been keeping you in the dark for all these years, but you clearly have the right to know what you are. Hmm, how should I explain this..."

"Essentially, a Jinchuuriki is one who has one of the nine Bijuu sealed within them. The Nine-tailed Beast is sealed within you... therefore you are the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko. At least, according to the bingo book. It tells us that the village of Konoha sealed the beast within the newborn Uzumaki Naruto when it attacked twelve years ago..."

"B-But... the village said the fox was k-killed by the Yondaime Hokage... I... fuck! Damn it! Damn it!" Naruto snarled, working himself into a tizzy as he tried to move around in his cell.

"Don't tire yourself out... please," Haku noted softly. "I have told you what I came up here for, so my visit is complete. I'm sorry... I wish I could do more for your situation."

Haku silently made his way to the door, lingering in the shadows for a few final seconds.

"Your team attempted to track our whereabouts in order to rescue you, but Zabuza-san intercepted them. You should take solace in the fact that they are still alive for now, but they have returned to their current mission when they realized they had no feasible way to track you for the time being. Zabuza-san and I have our own mission to attend to regarding them. Please don't hold any grudges..." he said finally, before walking down the steps.

The door shut behind him, and the calm before the storm ended for Naruto. He screamed and yelled, thrashing in his cell while banging his head against the wall behind him. The news of both slavery and the Kyuubi were too much for the boy to handle. His mind was working a mile a minute, trying to take in any solace he could find with his situation.

This went on for ten minutes, and he was lucky that Meizu or somebody else had not come back up. The remaining Demon Brother had been in a foul mood ever since he learned that his brother had died against his team, after refusing to give up any information about their whereabouts.

After one final rattling of his chains, he ceased. Yelling and crying about his situation wouldn't get him anywhere.

It was time for him to think up a proper escape plan. The only question was: How does he do it?

* * *

><p>Okay, we are done here. Exposition madness is what I'd call this chapter.<p>

What's good about this is that the story that was my main project is finally complete, meaning that I'll be able to update the others a lot more. I don't think this one is going to become my main project, but it should be seeing more updates at least.

**Translations and Other Features**

Mizu no Kuni: Water Country

That's all for now. Until next update.

**_Alban55_**


	10. The Missing-Nin Conundrum

And here we are with another update to my apparently boring story that nobody likes.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: The Missing-Nin Conundrum<p>

Night passed and morning came as Naruto remained in his cell, unable to think of a proper way to escape. He had been unable to for the past several days, so why would he suddenly be able to the night before Gatou came and visited him?

Speaking of Gatou, the head of the shipping company came and went the next morning. Apparently, his special visit wasn't really much. Haku's visit was actually much more meaningful; he had learned something with regards to his imprisonment, at least.

All Gatou did was sneer at him and tell him that he was a nice piece for his future business. He never stopped smirking that pig-like smirk either, like he knew that he was head and shoulders above Naruto.

The shipping magistrate turned slave broker had laughed at him as he left, tapping his cane against Naruto's head before heading back down the stairs. Naruto had never felt so mortified.

Naruto didn't sleep that night; the thought of the future was haunting him still. Would he be sold to a kind master, or would he be sold to a cruel noble who regarded him as nothing more than a sideshow and a status symbol.

Regardless of the type of person who owned him, he was still going to become a slave. Unless he could get out somehow. His hands were bound however, and he couldn't use chakra.

From the looks of it, he was going to be in this cell until Gatou could find a client who was willing to buy him. If what Haku told him was true, and he really was expensive and rare "merchandise", then it wouldn't be long.

Naruto supposed he should be far more worried about the revelation that he contained the Kyuubi no Youko. Thinking back on that, his life made a disturbing amount of sense. It was funny though how one's mind could put such an important thing aside when there were pressing concerns, however.

The more pressing concern was of course his present state. Even if he managed to escape, there was still the matter that he was apparently in every slave trader's Bingo Book as a highly valuable commodity. That could've been the most disturbing part. Every time he went on a mission, he was potentially a target.

By that night, his saving grace had come.

For some reason, Haku had reappeared outside his cell that evening, still wearing the oi-nin mask that covered his face. Because of that, Naruto couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Naruto blinked, and there was a flash of metal that almost made him jump. The flash of metal had been Haku pulling out his senbon, placing it in the lock in order to pick it.

The boy opened the cell door, using the same technique to undo the cuffs that were preventing Naruto from performing any hand seals. Naruto flopped onto the ground unceremoniously, staring up at Haku in perplexion.

"You guys were talking so much about how I was prized merchandise. Why are you suddenly letting me go?"

"Negotiations have broken down. Zabuza-san and I have decided it is no longer prudent to be affiliated with Gatou; we were biding our time waiting to kill him, but Gatou will do anything he can to make sure he doesn't have to pay us..."

"And, what does that..."

"It means that there is no reason for Zabuza-san and I to keep you in this cage. We are mercenaries. We only worked with the slave trade underneath the employment of Gatou."

"Zabuza-san would probably suggest just leaving you... but I am not so cruel..."

Naruto rubbed his wrists as the shackles were taken off him, and stepped out of his cell. He was still fairly suspicious of the whole thing; perhaps it was a trap?

"I assure you that this is not a trap. We had already captured you and disabled your ability to use chakra; there was no reason for us to go to any extra lengths..."

Haku was right about that. Besides, there was nothing for him to gain by staying in that cell, regardless of the nuke-nin's intentions. So, he stepped out into the light, feebly attempting to study the masked-nin's intentions.

"I would suggest leaving immediately, but whether you do so is up to you. I have allowed you the opportunity to make your escape; the ninja who captured you is no longer present here. Once I leave, the only ones here will be Gatou and his two samurai bodyguards, and I would imagine that would be easy to fool for a ninja such as yourself..."

Haku apparently didn't mince words after that, and wasn't interested in talking with him further. Putting his hands into a seal, Naruto covered his face as droplets of water splashed all over him. When he stopped squinting his eyes, the other boy had disappeared into a veil of mist.

That left Naruto alone in the room, pondering on the move to make next. There was an open window on the opposite side from where his cell was, and another one adjacent to where he could peer down upon the lower floors of the complex.

That was when he heard it: laughter. It was faint, but Naruto could distinctly hear an obnoxious, wheezing laughter come from somewhere outside. More specifically, Naruto could tell it was coming from outside the window that was opposite his cell.

He recognized the voice; he had heard it only hours before. It was the sleazy voice of the shipping magistrate that was trying to sell him into slavery. Anger welled up within his system, a deep scowl giving him an overall ugly expression.

He sauntered up to the open window to take a look down below. Down in the mist-filled forest, Gatou was seen walking away from the complex, flanked by his two samurai bodyguard thugs.

His arm flicked to his recently re-acquired kunai pouch, and he bit his bottom lip. No... no... he couldn't. He wasn't mentally prepared enough to do such a thing. His sensei had talked about the ability to steel one's heart and kill someone, but he was a Genin fresh out of the academy.

"_This is the guy who wanted to turn you into a slave! He runs a fucking slave ring, for God's sake. Who knows how many people's lives he's ruined up to this point!_"

One final wheezing laugh killed the wavering hesitation he had.

Quick as a flash, like the deed was contaminated, he pulled out a kunai. He didn't hold it in his hands, feeling the metal grooves like he normally would've.

As soon as he touched metal, he readied himself and flicked the knife out the open window in Gatou's direction. The young boy closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

He was not disappointed. A mere three seconds after he flung the kunai out the window, he heard a quick squelching noise followed by an agonized grunt before the crumpling of a body hit the ground. After that, there were two deep shouts of outrage.

Opening one eye tentatively, he carefully took a peak outside the window, thankful that there were no combatants other than those hired swords in the area.

The sleazy shipping magistrate lay face down in the dirt, not even twitching. Naruto's thrown kunai was embedded in his back, a pool of blood leaking from the area from which it struck.

Right underneath the third thoracic vertebrae. Naruto had hit a vital organ.

Naruto fell backwards like he was the one struck, completely stunned at what he had just done. The action had created a flame in his belly that tore at him, and he pushed him away from the window clumsily.

"O-Oh my god..." Naruto muttered, his back hitting the wall as he stopped backpedaling. He slid down slowly before falling completely on his rear end, covering his mouth and trying to control his breathing.

The first kill as a ninja... he never imagined it would come this soon.

Gatou by all means was a horrible person, and he should've felt nothing at his passing. But, life was more complicated than that. The first kill would've weighed on his mind no matter who it was.

A sharp pain snapped him out of his reverie, and Naruto realized that he had been clenching his fists hard enough to draw blood. He wiped the blood on his pants, taking a sound moment to ponder his situation.

The complex was effectively abandoned now. Gatou was now no longer amongst the living, Haku was out on his "mission", and the remaining Demon Brother was god-knew-where.

The first thing that came to his mind was that he needed to find his team, and possibly put this whole experience out of mind. The Demon Brothers had captured him in such a frenzy that he didn't even know where he was.

"_Fog... there's a whole bunch of fog. I can't be anywhere near Konoha if that's the case. The Nami no Kuni probably has a whole bunch of mist, being close to the ocean. And Kirigakure is named after the stuff, so I may be somewhere in the Mizu no Kuni. But where?_"

The Genin descended down the stairs to his tower, never dropping his guard. For some reason, he trusted what Haku had told him. He and Zabuza were probably long gone by now.

But, he had just killed one of the most wealthy men in the world. Naruto's mind worked at a mile a minute, thinking of the hordes of Gatou's henchmen who were lying in wait in order to avenge their fallen boss.

He managed to leave the complex completely unscathed after some fumbling around through some of the rooms. He never ran into anyone, the complex being legitimately empty for the time being, and made his way out into the forest that kept the den hidden.

Him taking out Gatou didn't change him being totally lost otherwise, without any way to communicate with his team. The right thing to do would be to get out of the forest and find a village or some other part of civilization. Once there, he could locate his position.

Squinting his eyes, he started walking in the direction that he felt was where he had come in, a rare feeling of mental and physical exhaustion settling in. The past few days had been rough, but the sooner he found his way back, the sooner he could put the experience out of his mind.

He hoped.

For the first time in a week, Naruto's luck favored him, as he managed to find his way out of the forest with minimal effort. As luck would have it, he also spotted a village as soon as he exited the treeline.

He also managed to take stock of the situation. The forest he had just been in was on much higher ground, apparently within the coastal foothills of the region he was in. The countryside dipped down into a coastal plain that the village was situated in, for he could see the gentle lapping of the waves directly beyond the village.

If this was an island... he had to worry about passage back to the mainland. Yet, he also knew that the Nami no Kuni was an island. It was entirely possible that everything worked out and he ran into his team.

But, he also had to prepare for the possibility that he would have to get back to the village on his own. In that case, fare to the mainland was going to be a problem.

"Excuse me, young sir? You seem to be lost in thought in the middle of the road. Are you okay?" a wheezy, male voice said from behind him. Naruto wondered how he had allowed an apparent civilian to sneak up on him without warning.

He turned to see a crotchety old man with a cane out for a stroll, taking the mountain path that he was descending on. Concern seemed to be etched on his white-bearded face, and Naruto forced up a smile.

"Heh heh, I guess I was, old man. But the thing is, I'm kinda lost..." Naruto said in embarrassment.

"Lost, are ya? Well, I can't see why a young man such as yourself would ever come to this backwater old village. Even those who enter the country never do it from this side, ya know," the old man responded.

"Where are we anyway? What country is this?" he asked.

"Shoot son, y'all must be really lost if ya don't even know what country you're in. We may be in this backwater ol' village, but this is still Nami no Kuni, through and through. If ya don't mind me askin', how'd a strappin' young fella like yerself get so lost in the first place?"

"I'm a ninja, and was on a mission here in the Nami no Kuni. We were on our way here, when I got... separated from the rest of my team. A lot of stuff happened, but all throughout I was never able to determine where the hell I was!"

The old man stroked his grey beard.

"A ninja, are ya? I didn't know a poor nation like this one could even afford to pay a ninja village, but that thing on yer forehead means yer tellin' the truth. What do ya plan to do now?"

Naruto slumped down against a tree, allowing his butt to hit the long grass.

"Well, I was going to try and find my team, but their mission might be over by now. I don't have any money for fare back to the mainland, and I don't even know if my team is still in this country..."

"Hmm, well ya never know, young un! Maybe if you told me what this mission of yours was about, then you'd be able to make your way back to them!" the old man suggested.

"Hey, that's a good idea! Well, let's see, I know we were escorting this certain bridge builder, in order to protect him from thugs and bandits while he made his way back to his country. Does that mean anything to you?"

The old man's toothy smile seemed to falter a bit.

"The bridge, eh? Was the guy you were escorted happen to be named Tazuna? Cuz he's the only one fool enough to try and finish that damn thing with Gatou breathin' down our necks and makin' our lives miserable. The bridge they're buildin' is all the way on the other side of the island though, but if yer a ninja it shouldn't take _too _long for y'all to reach it."

Naruto let a genuine smile onto his face, realizing that maybe he could catch up to his team in time.

"Thank you, old man!" he said loudly, and as he turned to get on the move, the crotchety old man grabbed his shoulder.

"Son, this nation needs a savior. We've been livin' under Gatou's shadow for far too long; even out here in the boonies has been affected. We all know of what Tazuna wishes to do, but even if we think he's a fool, we want him to succeed! Please, if you're a ninja, protect Tazuna and help them finish that bridge!"

"I see what I can do, old man..." Naruto muttered. He turned away so as to avoid meeting the old man's gaze and walked off. He could feel the man waving to him, shouting words of encouragement.

There was something about the conversation with the old man that bothered him. Even with the cavalier attitude the geezer had, Naruto could practically _feel _the resentment and regret wash off of him in waves.

All of a sudden, the degree of empathy he felt with the old man had risen to absurd degrees, and Naruto didn't even feel enough of a connection to the old man that would make it that way.

He hadn't even mentioned that Gatou was now dead, by his own hands. That alone should've freed this country, but it wasn't that simple. This entire country was a direct victim of the world they lived in, where wealth and power allowed just one individual to oppress a less fortunate people.

Unbeknownst to him, Naruto had just had his first encounter with a strange power that would come to define him later in his life.

* * *

><p>It was Team 7 versus the Kirigakure nuke-nins on the battle of the bridge, and Team 7 had ended up victorious by the time that Naruto had arrived. The entire village that Tazuna came from had come to join the fray, prompted by Tazuna's grandson, Inari.<p>

Following the directions of the old man, Naruto had come across a relatively barren village approximately six hours after he had left the other side of the island. The village was deserted, but the Genin could clearly see the large bridge that no doubt connected the mainland. The one that they were supposed to be protecting.

After running as fast as his tired legs would allow him, he came across a gaggle of villagers on the edge of the bridge, holding their pitchforks and crossbows to the sky in a display of triumphant victory.

"Yes! The Konoha ninjas protected our village! The Demon of the Mist has fallen, and his lackey has bitten the dust too!" one of the male villagers cheered. Naruto supposed he should be happy that their mission succeeded, but he wasn't really a part of it, and still...

"Gatou will surely not mess with us once we get the bridge complete! This is a time for celebration!" a woman called out, and Naruto winced. They would likely cheer even more once they realized what befell Gatou.

"Excuse me..." Naruto mumbled as he pushed his way past the flood of villagers. A few of them gave him annoyed or confused grunts as he passed through, but then double took as they gazed upon his hitai-ate.

"Oh! It's one of the Konoha shinobi! The heroes of our nation! Let him through! Let him through!" someone shouted, as Naruto finished pushing past the villagers. He locked eyes with Inari, who gave him a blank stare.

"Naruto!"

The boy recognized that as Sakura's voice, who was shouting at him in surprise and relief. Naruto wanted to smile back, because Sakura at least seemed somewhat worried about his well-being, but his casually waved back at the girl as he broke eye contact with Inari.

"Sakura-chan..." he muttered, before his eyes turned to the other members of his team. Kakashi was standing there, and it didn't look like he was particularly injured. Sasuke, on the other hand, was just getting up after looking worse for wear.

"Sasuke... what the hell happened to him?"

There were two others on the bridge along with his team, and Naruto's mouth almost went dry when he saw the two enemy ninja face down in the dirt. Only one of them was still breathing, albeit barely.

Naruto recognized the dead Haku by his apparel and the mask that was at his side, despite the androgynous face that he had never seen before. A massive hole has been punched right through his chest, obviously leading to his death.

The one next to him was probably Zabuza, but he had never actually seen Haku's companion/master while he was trapped in the complex. The larger man was breathing heavily while on the ground, his facemask torn off as he stared at Kakashi with barely restrained anger.

"Naruto?" Kakashi said in confusion, slightly surprised to see his last, recently missing student walk right up to them with a dead look in his eyes. Naruto ignored both him, and Sasuke who was being tended to by Sakura.

Rather, Naruto focused all of his attention on the downed nuke-nin.

"What was even the point?" he asked softly.

"W-What the hell are you talkin' about, kid? Your stupid little village won, and here I am in the dirt about to die. And now you're asking what the point was?"

Naruto still looked non-plussed.

"I was there, at the complex. Haku is the one who freed me; he told me that he wasn't fond of the type of business that Gatou does. He also said that you weren't either."

"Naruto, what are you-" Kakashi began, preparing to step between the two of them, but all Naruto did was turn to his sensei, a pleading look in his eyes as he wished to speak with the nuke-nin.

Realization dawned on Zabuza's face.

"Oh! Damn! I see. You were the one the Demon Brothers brought in. And Haku freed you? Heh, I always knew that he was too nice for this line of work!" Zabuza said, trying to dissolve the situation.

"What was it that drove the two of you? You were missing-nin, yet you weren't completely evil. Even you had standards that you didn't like, so what was it? I've now learned that the ninja village aren't the good guys that they claim to be all the time. Did that have something to do with it?"

"Alright, stop right there, Naruto..." Kakashi said lazily. "I don't know what happened or who's putting all these ideas in your head, but questioning the foundation of Konoha isn't taken lightly..." Kakashi warned.

Naruto and Zabuza looked at him deadpan, before Zabuza spoke like Kakashi wasn't even there.

"You're rambling, kid. What's it to you why I am the way I am?"

Naruto spared one last glance at Haku, noting how the boy's cherubic visage didn't exactly give the impression that he was a cutting-edge nuke-nin in the service of Momochi Zabuza.

It was at that point that Naruto confused Zabuza.

"Thank you. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you. Your group may have been the one to take me, but your subordinate was the only reason I escaped with my life or my freedom."

Zabuza gave a wheezy chuckle, as if he were in disbelief. Who ever heard of a stuck-up Konoha shinobi thanking a nuke-nin for anything? It was too rich to Zabuza.

"You're a fucking riot, kid. A fat lot of good your thanks does for me now. I'm about to die, y'know. That means I never was able to fulfill my ambitions. It's like a bad fucking joke..."

"Kakashi!" Zabuza continued, "We were enemies to begin with, and I think I'm in Konoha's bingo book. Allow me my pride and finish your mission!" Zabuza roared, as much as his hacking breaths allowed him.

Kakashi, who had interjected earlier, had remained silent during the rest of Naruto and Zabuza's conversation. It was something that he would have to take to Naruto about later, but for now there was a mission to finish.

"Yeah..." Kakashi said simply, pointing his left arm down as his free hand grabbed his wrist. A ball of lightning chakra formed in the palm of his hand, the crackling energy about to seal Zabuza's fate.

Naruto drowned out the cheering villagers in the background, the annoyed grunts of Sasuke, and the concerned chatter of Sakura to focus on this single action. A man, who had lived desperately, was about to die.

Naruto had more questions for the nuke-nin, and the Genin wished that he had all the time he needed to ask them. For, his time in the cage had taught him about the uglier side of ninja life. To his surprise, it had come in the form of an officially sanctioned and legal trade under the derogative of his own village.

A flash of blue pierced Naruto's vision, followed by a horrid squelching noise. Naruto did not flinch, turn away, or let any emotion onto his face.

He simply watched in stony silence, a feeling of numbness overwhelming his senses as the boy witnessed another death that very same day.

* * *

><p>Ugh, this chapter just went along at a snail's pace when it comes to me writing it. Come to think of it, all of my work right now is like that; I'm kinda in a slump as it were.<p>

Nevertheless, it's here now, so I hope you enjoyed it.

_**Alban55**_


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